Former Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), BBC Hausa reported on Wednesday.
Shekarau defected to NNPP days after another APC chieftain Abdulmumin Jibrin dumped the party also for NNPP.
This is as the Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa told TVC NEWS that Shekarau demanded the positions of Deputy Governor, one Senatorial seat, 10 members in the House of Assembly, nine Commissioners, appointment of officers in six local government areas in the next administration before he would remain in APC.
BBC Hausa reported that Shekarau has been offered the opportunity to contest for a Senate seat as the candidate of his new party.
Mr Shekarau, one of the founding members of APC, has moved to the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) alongside thousands of his supporters.
The former governor announced his defecting at his Bompai GRA residence in Kano on Wednesday.
Mr Shekarau, alongside another former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, were seen signing a register. He later obtained the membership registration card of the NNPP, amidst loud cheers from thousands of supporters.
His defection followed weeks of lobbying from both the APC and PDP, wooing Mr Shekarau into their party.
Mr Shekarau had, in 2014, defected from the APC to the People Democratic Party (PDP). In that year, he protested against the APC for giving the party’s structures in Kano to Mr Kwankwaso, who was the governor at the time, following the latter’s defecting to the APC from the PDP.
Again, in the buildup to the 2019 election, Mr Shekarau rejoined the APC in 2018 after the National Working Committee of the PDP dissolved the Kano State Executive Committee of the party and constituted a caretaker committee allegedly to favour same Mr Kwankwaso, who returned to the PDP.
Kwankwaso and Shekarau used to be sworn political adversaries and had never formed an alliance before now.
However, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has reconciled with one of the leaders of the factional G-7 in the state All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Barau Jibrin, Daily Trust gathered.
Barau, the chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, is the current representative of Kano North Senatorial District at the red chamber, a position Governor Ganduje has indicated interest in occupying in 2023.
But sources said the governor has now decided to shelve his senatorial bid and endorse Barau’s return to the red chamber following peace talks.
Confirming the development to Daily Trust, Ibrahim Zakari Sarina, the Secretary of the party in Kano, said the peace talk was successful.
“The process is ongoing,” he said concerning reports that Ganduje has endorsed Barau for the senatorial seat.
