Kano Assembly Justifies Gov Yusuf’s Planned Defection

The Kano State House of Assembly has thrown its weight behind the planned defection of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), citing unresolved leadership crises and ongoing court cases that it says could jeopardise his mandate.

Addressing journalists yesterday, the Majority Leader of the House, Lawan Hussaini, said remaining on the NNPP platform had become increasingly risky not only for the governor but also for other elected officials in the state.

According to him, the party is currently plagued by factional leadership disputes and multiple litigations, creating uncertainty over the validity of its structure and nominations ahead of future elections.

“There is an existing court judgement that recognises a particular faction of the NNPP,” Hussaini told journalists. “We cannot continue to remain in the party and risk a repeat of the legal disaster that happened in Zamfara State.”

He said the situation had informed the Assembly’s support for calls urging Yusuf and the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to leave the NNPP for a more politically stable platform, including the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Hussaini disclosed that members of the House were engaged in consultations with both Yusuf and Kwankwaso to encourage a consensus decision on what he described as a “strategic and timely” exit from the party.

He warned that if the NNPP’s leadership crisis and factional court cases persisted, the judiciary could rule that the party’s candidates were not validly nominated, even if they won elections.

Such a development, he said, could result in the removal of Yusuf and other NNPP office holders by the courts, drawing parallels with events in Zamfara State.

In the 2019 general elections, the APC won nearly all elective positions in Zamfara State, including the governorship and state assembly seats. However, internal factional disputes prevented the conduct of valid primaries.

Days before the inauguration, the Supreme Court ruled that the APC had no valid candidates, declared the votes cast for the party wasted and ordered that candidates with the next highest votes who met constitutional requirements be declared winners.

The ruling handed the governorship to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Bello Matawalle, while the party also secured almost all legislative seats in the state despite losing at the polls.

Kwankwaso demands compensation from defectors

Meanwhile, a former governor of Kano State and leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has issued a stern warning to members who have defected or are planning to defect from the movement, insisting they must account for the support and labour invested in them before leaving. Kwankwaso spoke while addressing supporters amid ongoing political realignments in the state, saying political defections rarely occur without incentives. “For someone to abandon his house and go elsewhere, it does not just happen without reason. These people, no doubt, have collected ‘goods’,” he said. “If they are done collecting, let them remember what was done for them in the past and come and pay us what is due to us for our labour before they cross the fence.”

He cautioned youths and supporters against being swayed by short-term gains or perceived political victories, noting that many who defected in the past later regretted their actions.

Kwankwaso said some individuals often follow what they assume is the winning side without understanding the long-term consequences, stressing that public celebrations frequently mask private regret.

“Those who lost their way in the past, if you look back, where are they today?” he asked. “Many of those flaunting things today do not sleep well. It is painful to sit alone and say to yourself, ‘If I had known, I would not have done some of the things I did.’”

The former minister maintained that betrayal carries lasting consequences, insisting that those who turned their backs on the Kwankwasiyya movement since its inception are still living with regret.

He added that betrayal goes beyond politics, warning that it leaves a stain that follows individuals throughout their lives. “The word ‘betrayer’ follows a person; him, his family and even his lineage,” he said.

NNPP rejects court order reversing dissolution of Kano executives

In a related development, the national body of the NNPP loyal to Kwankwaso has rejected an ex parte order granted by a Kano State High Court reversing the dissolution of its executive committees in the state, describing the purported order as “a farce” and an abuse of court process.

In a statement on Thursday in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, said the NNPP National Working Committee (NWC) had not been served with any court process and therefore regarded the reported ruling as “an ordinary street rumour.”

Justice Nasiru Saminu, sitting at a Kano High Court, had granted an order on Tuesday, restoring the party’s executives at the state, local government and ward levels, which were earlier dissolved by the NWC in line with the NNPP constitution.

However, the party insisted that even if such an order existed, it would be legally defective.

Johnson said it was improper for a court to issue an interim injunction against a decision that had already been completed by a political party’s national leadership.

“The court lacks jurisdiction to reverse an internal decision of the party,” he said, arguing that the Supreme Court has consistently held that the internal affairs of political parties are non-justiciable.

“The dissolution of Kano State executives at all levels therefore stands,” the NNPP declared.

The party also warned that if the reported injunction was confirmed, it would pursue legal remedies and petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) against any judicial officer found to have issued overreaching orders in breach of due process. (Daily trust)