Tinubu Closes 2027 Deal with Kano Gov, Yusuf, Concluding Plan to Join Ruling APC

*Kwankwaso considering options, timing

Ahmad Sorondinki in KanoA major political shift in the artery of the nation’s body politic is about to take place, as the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, is being prepped to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), alongside members of his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).Sources in both the NNPP and the APC, THISDAY gathered, contended that negotiations for the huge political swing had reached advanced stages, and barring any last minute change of mind, APC might be welcoming the biggest prize (Yusuf) so far to its ever expanding fold.

Kano, being the state with the highest votes in the country, carries special significance in Nigeria’s electoral map and is the dream of any presidential candidate.The APC leadership targeted the Kano State governor after its initial bid to woo Kwankwaso failed. It set its eyes on the governor, who expressed openness to the idea.Sensing an opening, the APC apparatchik piled pressure on the governor with attractive offers, which eventually swayed him to make up his mind.

THISDAY  checks revealed that Yusuf had been trying to convince his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to join APC, believing that it was the only way he could secure a second term, given what was currently on the horizon in the countdown to the next electoral bout.Sources at Government House, Kano, confirmed to THISDAY that the governor had been trying to persuade Kwankwaso to join him in defecting to APC, convinced that it was the only way to secure his re-election and preserve the political heritage of the Kwankwasiyya movement at this time.

A party source claimed that the Kwankwasiyya circle had been sharply divided, with some influential members in the state House of Assembly and the National Assembly opting to go with the governor to APC.However, some of Kwankwaso’s diehard members had vowed to remain with the NNPP leader, until he decides otherwise.They included the deputy governor, Aminu Abdulsalam, who was alleged to be interested in flying the NNPP flag in the 2027 elections.In a video clip, Director-General of Protocol, Government House, Abdullahi Rogo, was seen appealing to members of the party to work together with the governor and join APC.

Rogo urged both the governor and the leader of Kwankwassiya movement, Kwankwaso, to move together with Yusuf to the APC.One APC chieftain in the state, Imrana Muhammad, posted on his X handle, “After our meeting with the speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly and other members of Kwankwasiyya, we agreed that Kwankwaso and Kano State Governor Abba K. Yusuf should join the APC.”

Interestingly, Kwankwaso had reportedly said at different fora that NNPP was ready to join APC on some condition, albeit mulling his positions, particularly the timing.He, reportedly, stated that, “We are ready to join APC under strong conditions and promises. We will not allow anyone to use us and later dump us. Nobody in the country will tell me the burden we took in creating APC.“We were the ones who led the creation of the party, and we were the first set of seven governors to declare support for it. ICPC, EFCC, and the police were all used against me then, just to stop our plans.”Kwankwaso, who also recalled the frustrations of past alliances, had once accused both APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of flouting agreements.

“Eight years of APC under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari gave us nothing, not even appreciation. In PDP, we asked for just a zonal party chairman, but they refused,” he explained.However, a reliable party source disclosed to THISDAY that the APC leadership had first approached Kwankwaso and tried to convince him on why he should join the ruling party.

Unfortunately, after a lot of back and forth, and Kwankwaso seemed to be foot-dragging for obvious reasons, the APC leadership decided to review its strategy in order to make an inroad to the political capital of the north.It was in view of this that the party’s leadership approached Yusuf, who saw the wisdom in being part of APC and immediately consented to joining the ruling party.An impeccable APC source claimed that the Kano State governor may have sealed plans with the APC leadership and was merely waiting to formally join the ruling party after all formalities have been tidied up.Curiously, after Kwankwaso reportedly learnt of Yusuf’s plan to join APC, he allegedly went back to the APC leadership in an attempt to renegotiate his joining the ruling party.This, nonetheless, Kwankwaso may though not defect at the same time with Yusuf, competent party sources have disclosed that he, too, has resolved to join  the APC, but only considering his options and also wanted to be sure the timing was right.One of the sources particularly told THISDAY that Kwankwaso considered joining the APC an easier route to the Yusuf’s re-election in 2027 with less to spend being a part of the ruling party.To this end, either they go together or separately, the whole of Kano appears to be waiting to join the APC train and swell the ranks of the ruling party, thus further complicating the path of the opposition in the electoral process.What that means, therefore, for President Bola Tinubu is that with three crucial states of the federation in a presidential election – Lagos, Kano and Rivers – in the bag, the president’s re-election might just be a foregone conclusion.