Facts have emerged as to why the defection of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was postponed after initial arrangement.
On Friday, DAILY NIGERIAN reported that the governor had finalized arrangement to announce defection to the ruling party on Monday.
Before the postponement of the decamping, the national headquarters of the party had made arrangement for the governor to be the first to be registered in Kano in the new online registration drive of the party.
According to the earlier arrangement, former governor of Kano Abdullahi Ganduje will escort the governor to his Diso Ward to register on the party’s portal and receive a membership card.
After his registration, it was arranged that the governor will, in turn, immediately escort Mr Ganduje to his hometown in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area to renew his membership in the new portal.
But insiders said the plans were shelved when the governor’s attention was drawn to the need for him to meet with the top APC leaders in Kano, particularly Messrs Ganduje and Barau, and seek their blessings before announcement of the cross-carpeting.
“If the governor decamps without meeting Ganduje, Senator Barau and other APC leaders, it will appear as if he is looking down on them. And it will not augur well for him,” said a source familiar with the development.
Although Platinum Post had reported that the governor will announce defection on January 12, other sources however said the date is still tentative, and that it could happen “any day after meeting with Kano APC leaders”.
Other sources however said it was President Bola Tinubu who ordered that the defection be put on hold until last ditch efforts to woo Mr Yusuf’s godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, are made.
According to sources, Mr Kwankwaso’s planned defection to ADC had changed APC’s calculations.
“The Presidency has an intel that Kwankwaso met with Obasanjo and Peter Obi, and there is likelihood that the duo is teeming up to confront Tinubu in 2027. Obi/Kwankwaso ticket is a powerful combination that can change the APC’s political equation.
“And without Kwankwaso, the governor’s political wings are clipped. So Tinubu is still having a second thought on Governor Yusuf’s defection.
“As a matter of fact, it is the governor that is wooing APC not the other way round. That is why there is no concrete conditions set on who gets what in the party stake after the governor’s defection,” said a source.
But other sources told this newspaper that the governor personally sought the extension of time in order to enable him persuade more members of the State and National Assembly to join his defection train.
Unconfirmed sources however told this newspaper that the backlash the governor is facing in Kano has put him in limbo, such that he is considering to shelve his defection and reunite with his godfather.
