Hundreds dump APC in Kano, pledge support for Kwankwaso’s NDC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kano State suffered another setback on Saturday as hundreds of its members defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, in Takai Local Government Area.

The defectors were received by the NDC senatorial candidate for Kano South, Dr. Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya, at a ceremony attended by party leaders from across the zone.

Party officials said the wave of defections followed the emergence of former Kano governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, as the vice-presidential candidate of the NDC alongside presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

 Both men left the ADC after the 2025 coalition, citing internal divisions and legal disputes.

Media reports indicate a series of defections from the APC to the NDC in Kano since Kwankwaso’s nomination.

Less than 24 hours after INEC published the credentials of Kwankwaso and Obi for the 2027 polls, Kwankwaso personally received defectors from Madobi and Gari LGAs at his Miller Road residence, where thousands of youths in Kwankwasiyya red caps pledged loyalty to the NDC.

Another group from Madobi LGA was also received by Kwankwaso on August 2, 2026, with the former governor assuring them of “fair and comfortable positions” in the party.

However, the APC in Kano dismissed reports of mass defections as “baseless propaganda” aimed at diverting attention from internal problems within the Kwankwasiyya movement.

State Publicity Secretary, Auwalu Soja, said the party’s structure in areas like Kumbotso remains intact and that it had no record of the identities of the alleged defectors.

He attributed the loyalty of APC members to ongoing federal projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline and the Kaduna-Kano-Maradi railway, and to investment initiatives attracted by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

Kano Politics has remained volatile ahead of 2027, with Kwankwaso and his estranged political godson, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, locked in a battle for supremacy.

The state is expected to be a major battleground.

The defections are not one-way. The NDC has also been battling speculation that some of its key figures may return to the APC.

 Kano NDC Chairman, Hussaini Mairiga, recently appealed to Senator Rufai Hanga and former Senator Kabiru Gaya to remain in the party amid reports of meetings with APC leaders.

 Both lost consensus tickets in the NDC to former Deputy Governor Nasiru Gawuna and others.

In another development, Gwale LGA lawmaker, Abdulmajid Mai Rigar Fata, also dumped the APC for the NDC after failing to secure a return ticket.

Experts say Kano will be decisive in 2027. The NDC is leveraging Kwankwaso’s grassroots structure to expand in the North-West, while the APC is banking on federal infrastructure and incumbency to hold its base.

Despite the back-and-forth, the APC downplayed the threat. National Secretary Ajibola Basiru said Kwankwaso “is not a threat to us, nor to President Tinubu’s second term,” arguing that the NDC lacks enough elected officials to mount a serious challenge.

NDC leaders, however, insist the momentum is with them.

At the Takai event, Bataiya urged the new members to mobilize at the grassroots, saying the party was committed to youth development and people-centered representation.

With INEC’s timetable already in motion, both parties are expected to intensify mobilization across Kano’s 44 LGAs in the coming months.

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