Governor Abba Yusuf’s fresh appointments in Kano have deepened political tensions as his former mentor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, condemned Yusuf’s defection from the NNPP to the APC and warned that the governor would regret the move ahead of the 2027 elections.
Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State has made fresh appointments aimed at consolidating his political base ahead of the 2027 polls, amid mounting tensions following his defection from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The development came as Yusuf’s estranged political mentor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, vowed that the governor would regret leaving the NNPP, while immediate past governor of the state, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, declared his readiness to reconcile with Kwankwaso.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, Kwankwaso, the NNPP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election and leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, said Yusuf’s exit from the party shocked many Nigerians and left him personally unsettled. According to him, the circumstances surrounding the defection appeared confusing and unreal. “Many people have approached me saying they believe what happened was part of some arrangement between me and him, or between me and those around him. “Even I, on several occasions, found it hard to believe that events have unfolded the way they did,” Kwankwaso said.
The former Kano State governor expressed deep disappointment over the move, insisting that time would reveal its consequences and that those who followed Yusuf would come to regret abandoning the NNPP. He accused the governor of betraying the party’s supporters, saying Yusuf “handed over the mandate of the NNPP members and the people of Kano to the Gandujiyya political camp” without any strong justification.