More blows on APC as Shekarau plans to leave party today

Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano State and current Senator representing Kano Central, will publicly announce his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) today, barring any last-minute changes.

Shekarau, who leads the APC’s splinter G-7 in Kano, has been at odds with Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, despite the fact that the G-7’s destiny was sealed by a Supreme Court ruling last week, which transferred the party’s leadership over to the governor.

Following the governor’s support of Nasir Gawuna, the deputy governor, as the APC’s chosen candidate for the gubernatorial ticket, some APC bigwigs moved to the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), led by another former governor of the state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

On Saturday, Shekarau was supposed to publicly declare his defection from the APC, but the plan was scrapped for an unclear reason.

On Friday, when other APC bigwigs announced their defection to the NNPP, Ganduje went to Shekarau late at night to prevent the defection, following which both of them were called to Abuja.

Shekarau, on the other hand, avoided the Abuja conference after learning that the peace talks were not convened by the presidency.

A team of Kwankwaso allies visited Shekarau after Ganduje’s visit to confirm that the planned defection was still intact.

While Shekarau’s side has not provided a formal explanation for the Saturday change of plans, Daily Trust has learned that Shekarau was displeased with his supporters’ reaction against Ganduje on Friday. The governor was booed when he arrived at Shekarau’s Mudunbawa Kano residence.

Shekarau, on the other hand, was said to have traveled to Abuja on Saturday at the invitation of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC’s National Leader and a presidential candidate on the party’s platform in 2023.

While the conclusion of the several-hour discussion could not be determined, feelers from the Shekarau camp indicated that the meeting did not succeed in changing the planned defection.

According to reliable sources, the Kano APC leadership delivered five House of Assembly forms and two House of Representatives forms to Shekarau on Saturday evening, but the forms were rejected by the Shura Council, the political structure’s top decision-making body.

Shekarau returned to Kano this morning (yesterday), according to one of the sources, and instructed everyone to be completely prepared for the upcoming travel on Monday.

Kwankwaso attacked Shekarau’s house a few hours after his arrival to seal the agreement for his defection to the NNPP.

The outcome of the closed-door meeting between the two political titans could not be determined, but sources told Daily Trust that the defection is almost complete, as all of the former governor’s associates in the state’s 44 local government areas have agreed to join the NNPP barring any last-minute changes.