JUST IN: Defection Talks Heighten as Kano Gov Yusuf Meets Tinubu at Villa

 

Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, on Monday held talks with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid mounting speculation over his possible defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor arrived the Villa at about 4:13pm dressed in his trademark white babanriga and red Kwankwasiyya cap, signalling what observers described as a crucial political engagement.

The meeting is coming weeks after reports emerged that Yusuf was considering dumping the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the APC, a move said to have suffered repeated delays since early January.

Sources close to the negotiations disclosed that the defection plan stalled following the APC leadership’s refusal to grant Yusuf a written guarantee of an automatic governorship ticket for the 2027 election.

It was further gathered that the governor is pushing for the right to nominate Kano’s ministerial slot in the Federal Executive Council and to replace some federal appointees from the state with his loyalists.

These demands, according to party insiders, have put Yusuf on a collision course with influential APC figures, particularly Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who is believed to be nursing governorship ambitions in 2027.

Monday’s visit was Yusuf’s first known audience with Tinubu since the President returned from Abu Dhabi where he attended the 2026 Sustainability Week.

Days earlier, the governor had presided over the first Kano State Executive Council meeting of the year at the Government Lodge in Abuja, a session streamed on his official Facebook page.

The planned defection has drawn criticism from NNPP national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who described the move as a betrayal and warned of political consequences in 2027.

Loyalists of Kwankwaso, including his son, Hon. Mustapha Kwankwaso, are said to have threatened resignation should the governor formally join the APC.

An APC chieftain, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, had also claimed in a viral video that President Tinubu ordered the suspension of the party’s e-registration in Kano until Yusuf officially defects and registers first.