Rabiu Kwankwaso, National Leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has expressed deep political disappointment over the defection of Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the move as a painful betrayal and recalling efforts he said were made to seek judicial intervention during the 2019 Kano governorship crisis.
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Speaking to supporters at his residence in a video shared by his media aide, Saifullahi Hassan, Kwankwaso said Yusuf’s defection marked the greatest political letdown of his life, adding that it would have been preferable for the governor to align with a new political platform rather than defect to what he described as “political enemies.”
According to Kwankwaso, the defection amounted to handing over the NNPP’s mandate in Kano to adversaries, despite the political struggles they endured together in the past.
He revisited the events surrounding the 2019 Kano governorship election, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), leading to a supplementary poll and eventual litigation that culminated at the Supreme Court.
“Injustice. In my entire life, I cannot remember where such a thing has ever been done before,” Kwankwaso said in Hausa.
Recalling the period, Kwankwaso disclosed that he personally made efforts to seek intervention from members of the Supreme Court during the legal battle.
“I had forgotten that in 2019, I took him to the homes of all the Supreme Court justices in Nigeria to beg them. The governor and I met them in their villages and towns,” he stated, but did not mention the names of the justices.
Kwankwaso said the memory resurfaced during a conversation with former Senate President, Pius Anyim, whom he said contacted him when the election dispute began.
“There’s an Igbo man named Pius Anyim, former Senate President. When the issue started, he called me immediately. Before we even finished greetings, he asked if what he was hearing was true. He held his head,” Kwankwaso recounted.
Governor Yusuf had announced his resignation from the NNPP last Friday, citing deepening internal crises and prolonged leadership disputes within the party.
In the 2019 election, Yusuf, then the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, initially led with 1,014,353 votes, ahead of then-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the APC, who polled 953,522 votes. With over 100,000 votes cancelled, INEC declared the election inconclusive.
Following a supplementary election across 28 local government areas, Ganduje was declared winner. The Supreme Court later dismissed Yusuf’s appeal in January 2020, affirming Ganduje’s victory.
Kwankwaso and Yusuf later left the PDP for the NNPP, on whose platform Yusuf won the 2023 Kano governorship election, largely backed by the Kwankwasiyya political movement.
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