Abba Atiku Abubakar, son of Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to mobilise political support for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu.
Abba was formally received into the ruling party on Thursday evening in Abuja by Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, and Mustafa Salihu, national vice-chairman of the APC in the north-east.
He announced the rebranding of his political platform, originally founded in 2022 as the Atiku Haske Organisation, to the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation.
Abba also instructed all coordinators and members of his political structure to immediately defect to the APC and work in support of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“My name is Abubakar Atiku Abubakar, but everyone calls me Abba; I am here today to formally announce my exit from my former party, where we worked in 2023, and my decision to join the APC,” he said.
“Today, I’m here to formally announce my exit from my former party to the APC following the outstanding leadership style and quality of His Excellency, the deputy president of the senate, Senator Barau Jibrin.
“With this development, I will work with Senator Barau to actualise the second-term bid President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come 2027.
“To this effect, I’m directing all coordinators of my association to join the APC and work for President Tinubu.”
Mustafa Salihu, national vice-chairman of the APC in the north-east, described the defection as symbolic and significant while welcoming Abba Atiku Abubakar into the party.
“Today is one of my happiest days; we are looking beyond old social and political cleavages,” Salihu said.
“This young man has seen the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration and decided to align with them.”
Salihu said the APC is guided by ideology and policy direction rather than personal ambition, assuring Abba of equal rights and opportunities within the party.
Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, congratulated Abba Atiku Abubakar, describing his defection as a courageous and principled step.
“You have made a decision based on ideology; you didn’t come here because of your father,” Barau said.
“You came because you believe in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his ideology and the renewed hope agenda.”
Barau said Abba Atiku Abubakar, who has been observing Nigeria’s political developments from the United States, was encouraged by the reforms and outreach of the Tinubu administration.
“He is young, focused, and determined to contribute to shaping the future of our country; this is the kind of youth Nigeria needs,” Barau said.
The APC has recently recorded an increase in defections from opposition parties across the country.
The ruling party has also commenced a nationwide electronic registration exercise aimed at accurately documenting its membership.
Ajibola Basiru, national secretary of the APC, said on Monday that the party’s digitally verified membership is expected to increase to between eight and nine million within two weeks of the commencement of the revalidation exercise.