A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has alleged that Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) out of fear of losing the 2027 general election.
The NNPP said the governor’s move was based on personal political survival and not on the interest of the people of Kano State.
The party warned that the defection has created a major political break within Kano politics ahead of the next election cycle.
Speaking during an interview on Tuesday, the Secretary of the NNPP Board of Trustees, Engineer Buba Galadima, described Yusuf’s decision as a betrayal of the political family that brought him to power.
He said the governor’s alliance with former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, was painful and unacceptable, considering Ganduje’s long-standing rivalry with NNPP leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
“His own personal interest — personal, personal, personal,” Galadima said while reacting to the defection.
“Not Kano people. Not peace in Kano. He wanted us to swallow it, but we can neither take any of the above.”
Galadima explained that the NNPP would have reacted differently if Yusuf had joined another political party.
“Had Governor Yusuf moved from NNPP to another platform other than APC, I could have said he moved well,” he said.
“But in this case, it is only a matter of survival.”
He described the development as a historic betrayal and said the NNPP leadership felt deeply hurt by the governor’s action.
“If I could shed tears over anything, this touched me beyond expression,” Galadima said.
“I don’t give in to sentiment easily, but this cut deep.”
Galadima recalled the sacrifices made by NNPP leaders to ensure Yusuf emerged as governor.
“There is nothing under the sun we did not do for Abba Kabir Yusuf to prevail — and he did prevail,” he said.
“For three days, Kwankwaso and I did not sleep. We travelled, we struggled, we put everything on the line.”
He further stated that former President Muhammadu Buhari played a role in Yusuf’s eventual victory after the legal battles that followed the 2023 election.
“The man who took our victory in 2019 and gave it to Ganduje later stood firm and said, ‘This boy won his election. Give him his victory,’” Galadima said.
“Abba Kabir Yusuf was made governor through the courts and through Buhari. God was at work.”
According to Galadima, Yusuf abandoned the political values that once sustained him.
“He left what he trusted before and put his faith in human beings,” he said.
“He believed that even if he won again, APC would still take it, so why not join them?”
Reacting to claims that the governor had freed himself from Kwankwaso’s influence, Galadima rejected the argument.
“Three months into his tenure, he abandoned Kwankwaso,” he said.
“But publicly, he still treated him like a king. What happens behind closed doors is different.”
He disclosed that the NNPP chose to remain silent until Yusuf publicly announced his defection.
“We decided to keep quiet so that he would use his own mouth to say he was leaving us,” Galadima said.
“Today, we have the sympathy of the people of Kano.”
Galadima claimed that the governor had lost the support of ordinary citizens in the state.
“If today there is a free and fair election, Abba Kabir Yusuf cannot get five per cent of the votes of Kano people,” he said.
He also described Yusuf’s public appearance alongside Ganduje and other APC leaders as painful.
“All of them — Ganduje, Bado Jibril, others — were products of Kwankwaso’s political school,” Galadima said.
“Seeing them raise Abba’s hand is bitter.”
He alleged that the defection was motivated by hostility toward Kwankwaso’s popularity among the masses.
“They felt Kwankwaso was too accepted by the ordinary people,” Galadima said.
“They thought they could destroy him. They cannot.”
Galadima also reacted to Yusuf’s comment about ending “blind loyalty,” insisting it was not targeted at Kwankwaso.
“That message was not for Kwankwaso,” he said.
“It was for his new masters — Tinubu and Ganduje — to say he will not show blind loyalty to them either.”
On Yusuf’s loyalty to NNPP, Galadima questioned whether the governor was ever committed to the party.
“I don’t think he was ever NNPP,” he said.
“He was only a beneficiary of the NNPP.”
He further alleged that Yusuf had been working in the interest of the APC even while serving as an NNPP governor.
“He was not working for NNPP. He was working for APC,” Galadima said.
Despite losing its only sitting governor, Galadima maintained that the NNPP would survive and rebuild.
“Before him, we had nobody — no councillor, no legislator, no governor,” he said.
“What stopped God from doing that miracle once cannot stop Him again.”
Turning to national politics, Galadima accused President Bola Tinubu of consolidating political power ahead of the 2027 elections.
“If Tinubu has performed well, why does he need everybody to join his party?” he asked.
“Why is he encouraging betrayal?”
He also alleged pressure on opposition figures through state institutions.
“By using the EFCC, the ICPC and coercing the judiciary,” Galadima said.
Galadima warned that electoral manipulation would no longer be tolerated by Nigerians.
“Nobody can afford to rig the 2027 elections,” he said.
“Nigeria is no longer the Nigeria of yesterday. The people will not accept it.”
As the interview concluded, Galadima expressed dissatisfaction over the limited time given to him.