Politics

Ganduje assures Yusuf of APC ticket, victory after defection

Published

9 months ago

January 27, 2026

Immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, has assured Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, of victory in the 2027 governorship election and pledged full support for his second-term bid following his defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party back to the APC.

Ganduje made the pledge on Monday during a ceremony welcoming Yusuf to the ruling party at the Coronation Hall, Government House, Kano, describing the governor’s return as a “historic homecoming” and a major boost for APC in the state.

“You will win your second term in 2027. We have spoken to all aspirants, and they have agreed to support you,” Ganduje said. “In APC, all serving governors are leaders of the party in their respective states. Therefore, you are the leader of the APC in Kano State.

“We were in APC together with you, it was formed with you; but later, on, because of some political differences, political redirection, you left the party for the NNPP but now, we are thankful that you are back to our party and your home.

He described Yusuf as a progressive politician whose leadership style aligns with APC ideology.

“As our brother, the Governor of Kano State, you are a progressive politician from your utterances, your policies and the implementation of those policies,” he said.

Ganduje also assured the governor of equal treatment within the party and expressed confidence that the APC would record sweeping victories in future elections, including President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.

Governor Yusuf formally rejoined APC on Monday, fter resigning from the NNPP on January 23, citing persistent internal crises, ongoing legal battles, and the need to safeguard the developmental interests of Kano State.

In his resignation letter to the chairman of Diso-Chiranchi Ward of the NNPP in Gwale Local Government Area, Yusuf explained that the decision was taken after wide consultation and careful reflection on the state’s future.

“Leadership must rise above comfort, sentiment or personal selfishness. That is why, after careful reflection and consultation, I relinquish my membership of NNPP and joined the party that is better for Kano,” Yusuf said.

He emphasised that the decision was motivated by the need to align Kano with the Federal Government, foster unity, and move away from decades of isolationist politics.

“We are choosing progress over personal desires. Our loyalty is to Kano first,” he added, urging former political allies, including Rabiu Kwankwaso, not to perceive the defection as personal but as a step towards state development and political stability.

The governor’s return was accompanied by 22 state lawmakers, eight members of the House of Representatives, and all 44 local government chairmen in Kano, signaling a massive political realignment in the state.

Kwankwaso’s son resigns

The defection also triggered the resignation of Mustapha Rabi’u Kwankwaso, Kano State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development and son of former governor and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, from the State Executive Council.

In a statement released on Monday, Mustapha Kwankwaso said the decision was taken “with a heavy heart,” expressing gratitude to Governor Yusuf for the opportunity to serve Kano State.

He also called for sustained attention to youth-focused programmes, expressing optimism that existing initiatives in sports development would continue to grow and benefit the state.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, and Member of the Kano State Executive Council. I want to express my deepest gratitude to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for the opportunity to serve the people of Kano State,” he said.

Barau welcomes Yusuf

Meanwhile, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, also welcomed Governor Yusuf to the APC, promising to collaborate with him for the development of Kano State.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Malam Ismail Mudashir, Barau said the governor’s return strengthened APC in northern Nigeria and reaffirmed loyalty to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“I welcome His Excellency, the governor of our beloved state, Kano, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, to our great party, the APC, the largest political party in Africa.

“I want to reassure the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency Bola Tinubu, GCFR, of my unalloyed commitment to the ideals of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.

NNPP reacts

Meanwhile, the Deputy National Chairman of the NNPP, Prince Nweze Onu, condemned Yusuf’s defection, describing it as a betrayal of the electorate.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Onu insisted that controlling all 36 state governorships would not guarantee Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, arguing that the political contest would extend beyond officeholders to ordinary Nigerians.

“Oh, yes. It will be a hugely contested election between President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians. Even if the APC controls all 36 state governorships, it would not prevent the party from suffering an embarrassing defeat at the polls in 2027,” Onu said.

Onu also defended the NNPP, describing it as united and grassroots-driven, dismissing Yusuf’s claims of internal crises as attempts to tarnish the party.

He called on party members to remain calm and steadfast, assuring that the NNPP would continue to prepare for the 2027 elections.

Yusuf’s defection is seen as a significant consolidation of APC influence in Kano State ahead of the 2027 general elections, strengthening the party’s northern base and aligning the state more closely with the Federal Government.

The move also reshapes the political landscape in Kano, with several elected officials switching allegiance to the ruling party alongside the governor.

Tinubu didn’t bait Yusuf

However, the APC dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu or the ruling party enticed opposition governors to defect, insisting that recent political shifts are voluntary decisions made by leaders seeking to align with the administration’s agenda.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, stated this on Monday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Asked whether the APC actively lured opposition governors, Morka firmly refuted the allegation.

“Nobody is baiting anyone. These eminent leaders in our country who are joining our party do so on their own volition. No one is baiting anyone. Look, Kano is one of Nigeria’s most important states. For a governor in Kano to decide to join our party, you can’t speak of bait. He made that decision voluntarily,” he said.

According to Morka, the defections reflect confidence in the Tinubu administration and the APC’s political direction rather than inducement.

“There’s something the governors who are joining our party are seeing. They want to identify with this president. They want to be part of the success story of Mr President and the promise of a resurgent Nigeria. That is what is going on. So I don’t think we should conclude by suggesting that anyone is being baited,” he added.

On the question of whether Yusuf automatically becomes the APC leader in Kano following his defection, Morka maintained the party’s state-level leadership principle, emphasising a collaborative approach:

“As a matter of principle, in our states, the governors are leaders of our party. We encourage a collegiate model of leadership. The governor may be the political head, but there are other critical and eminent leaders in all of our states, whose role and involvement in decision-making is critical to the success, not just of our party, but of the government where we hold office.”

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Politics

Peter Obi says he won 2023 election but has ‘no evidence’ to prove claim, read details

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2026

Newsbreak365_Admin

Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has acknowledged that he has no evidence to substantiate his claim that he won the 2023 presidential election, while insisting that he remains convinced that he was the actual winner.

Obi made the remarks in a recent interview with BBC Africa while discussing his position on the disputed 2023 election and his plans to contest the 2027 presidential election.

Asked directly whether he had evidence to support his claim of victory in the 2023 election, Obi said, “There’s no evidence. Everything is not based on evidence.”

He nevertheless maintained that he won the election, adding, “I won the election and that’s where I will end. I don’t like going back to the past. I won the election (2023). Well, there’s no evidence but I won the election.”

Obi contested the February 25, 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party and was placed third in the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The electoral commission declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner with 8,794,726 votes, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar came second with 6,984,520 votes. Obi recorded 6,101,533 votes.

Following the declaration, Obi and the Labour Party challenged the outcome at the Presidential Election Petitions Court, alleging electoral irregularities and non-compliance with electoral laws.

The five-member tribunal dismissed the petition on September 6, 2023, and upheld Tinubu’s victory.

Obi later took the case to the Supreme Court, but a seven-member panel of the apex court dismissed his appeal on October 26, 2023, ruling that it lacked merit and affirming the lower court’s decision.

Despite the court decisions, Obi has continued to reject the 2023 election outcome as a true reflection of the votes cast by Nigerians.

Source: tribuneonlineng.com

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Politics

Presidency reveals key factor that gives Tinubu edge over opposition ahead of the 2027 elections, read details

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2026

Newsbreak365_Admin

The Presidency has said the growing number of governors backing President Bola Tinubu gives him a stronger political structure and an advantage over opposition candidates ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said this on Channels Television’s Politics Today, arguing that the political landscape had changed considerably since the 2023 election.

Bwala said the support of governors was significant because they control political structures in their respective states and could translate their backing for Tinubu into grassroots mobilisation ahead of the election.

“Since then, President Bola Tinubu has got how many governors on his side? The governors are the Chief Executive Officers of their respective states. They coordinate the structures of the state. These people say, ‘We are putting our goodwill, our resources, our structure, and our support to the President,’” he said.

He said the President’s political position had also been strengthened by people who had benefited from his administration’s policies, including beneficiaries of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), agricultural programmes, manufacturing incentives, CrediCorp and infrastructure projects.

Bwala said the developments constituted “facts, verifiable data” which, in his view, showed that Tinubu had made progress since assuming office in 2023.

He also dismissed suggestions that the administration’s confidence ahead of 2027 was based solely on divisions within the opposition, saying its record in office would form an important part of its campaign.

His comments came amid renewed debate over Tinubu’s popularity and the ability of the opposition to challenge his bid for a second term.

Bwala dismissed an assessment by The Economist that Nigerians may re-elect Tinubu despite disapproval of his administration, arguing that claims about the President’s popularity should be backed by representative opinion surveys.

“When you make a claim that Nigerians don’t like him, without saying, also, that there are a lot of people… one million families that the children have benefited from NELFUND, you think they hate him?” he asked.

He similarly cited beneficiaries of agricultural interventions, support for manufacturers and CrediCorp, arguing that such groups should be considered when assessing public sentiment towards the administration.

On concerns over rising poverty and hunger, Bwala acknowledged that more Nigerians had fallen into poverty but attributed the hardship partly to the economic reforms undertaken by the Tinubu administration.

“More people went down to poverty, I acknowledge, I’m not doubting it. But there’s a but to it. Since when the reform started to today, we have made marked progress,” he said.

According to him, the reforms were necessary to address longstanding economic problems, despite the short-term discomfort experienced by Nigerians.

Bwala also defended Tinubu’s statement that Nigeria had moved from the “doldrums” towards prosperity, saying the President was not suggesting that Nigerians would suddenly begin experiencing prosperity from October 1.

He cited NELFUND beneficiaries, subsidised healthcare, infrastructure projects and support for small and medium-sized businesses as examples of what he described as prosperity already reaching Nigerians.

“One million families whose children have benefited from the NELFUND programme, what they are benefiting is called prosperity,” he said.

“If you go to an environment or a place where there have been no roads or any form of infrastructure, and we have established infrastructure there, what has come to them is prosperity.”

Bwala further claimed that the opposition had lost several influential political figures who played key roles in their 2023 campaigns.

He said former Vice President Atiku Abubakar no longer had the support of governors who worked for his 2023 campaign, while Peter Obi had also lost some critical political allies.

“In terms of the other candidates who say he will not win, Atiku Abubakar lost close to 25 per cent of key people that you know around him. All the governors that worked for him that time are no longer with him,” Bwala said.

“Peter Obi lost 55 per cent of the critical people that carried his campaign; they’ve all disappeared. And some of them went to Atiku, some of them went wherever they could go to.”

He consequently expressed confidence in Tinubu’s prospects in the 2027 contest, saying the political support around the President was considerably different from what existed before the 2023 election.

Source: tribuneonlineng.com

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Politics

David Mark reveals ADC won’t accept rigging in 2027, read details

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2026

Newsbreak365_Admin

The National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, David Mark, has warned that the party will comply with electoral rules but will resist any attempt to manipulate the 2027 general elections or rig it out of the contest.

Mark issued the warning on Wednesday in Abuja when he received the governing council of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, led by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola (retd.), at the ADC national headquarters.

Mark said the ADC was prepared to abide by the rules governing the elections and the party’s own code of conduct, but would not accept electoral manipulation.

“We hold ourselves to the highest standards of good conduct as a political party. We will play by the rules. But we will not accept rigging or allow ourselves to be rigged out.

“We are committed to playing politics in a manner that promotes public confidence in democracy,” he said.

He added that the party would comply with INEC’s guidelines as well as the provisions of its Orange Book, which sets out the party’s code of conduct and governance principles.

The former Senate President had previously warned against the use of state institutions to manipulate the 2027 elections, saying the credibility of the polls must be protected.

The Council of the Wise, as the governing council is known, was at the party secretariat as part of its ongoing engagement with political parties and other stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking during the visit, Ariwoola said the centre was seeking the commitment of political parties and their candidates to peaceful, free, fair and credible elections.

He also urged the ADC leadership to ensure that its candidates and supporters complied with the rules of the Independent National Electoral Commission and avoided conduct capable of triggering political violence.

The latest warning came as the Savannah Centre intensifies consultations with political actors and other stakeholders ahead of the elections.

The Council of the Wise, chaired by Ariwoola, was reconstituted in June with a mandate to promote peaceful, free and credible elections and engage key institutions and political actors.

The council’s recent engagements have included meetings with presidential candidates and other political stakeholders, with repeated calls for adherence to electoral rules, issue-based campaigns and the prevention of violence and hate speech.

Ariwoola’s delegation to the ADC included members of the Council of the Wise, among them Professors Abdullahi Shehu and Azeez Dankano, Executive Director of the Centre, Amb Sani Bala, Mr Tunji Lardner and Amb Godswill Ighali.

The centre had earlier said the Council of the Wise would engage President Bola Tinubu, INEC leadership, political parties, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, civil society groups and other stakeholders ahead of the elections.

Source: punchng.com

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