January 25, (THEWILL) — After much hesitation, intra-party squabbles and interpersonal conflict with his political godfather, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, amid reports of defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf took an unexpected step on Friday, January 23,2025.
He resigned from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, alongside 21 out of 40 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight out of 14 members of the House of Representatives and the chairmen of all 44 local government areas in the state.
Yusuf cited deepening internal crises in the party and the need to safeguard the broader interest of the people of Kano State in a letter addressed to the Chairman of Diso-Chiranchi Ward, NNPP, Gwale Local Government Area, to whom he officially communicated his decision to withdraw from the party with effect from Friday, January 23, 2026.
“I write with a deep sense of gratitude to formally notify the leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) of my decision to resign my membership of the party, with effect from Sunday, 25 January 2026”, he said.
Governor Yusuf expressed appreciation to the party for the platform and support extended to him throughout his political engagement with the NNPP.
“I remain sincerely appreciative of the opportunity given to me by the party, its leadership, and members across Kano State to be part of its political journey since 2022, as well as the support, goodwill and cooperation extended to me during my time in the party”, Yusuf said, adding, “In recent times, the party has been confronted with persistent internal challenges arising from leadership disagreements and ongoing legal processes, many of which are before the courts for judicial determination.”
Yusuf stated that his decision followed careful reflection and was strictly guided strictly by certain considerations in the public interest.
The 19 members of the State Assembly and eight reps who chose to remain in the party are loyalists of Kwankwaso and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement. Two reps, Sagir Koki and Abdulmumini Jibrin, had joined the APC on November 13, 2025. The Deputy Governor, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo declined to follow his principal.
He is also a Kwankwaso loyalist. Another Kwankwaso loyalist who refused to join other senior lawmakers to resign alongside the governor is Senator Rufa’ Sani Hanga, the only Senator of the party at the National Assembly. So did some members of Governor Yusuf’s cabinet, including the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Rabiu (Kwankwaso’s son). Another ally of Kwankwaso and political adviser, Sanusi Suraju Kwankwaso announced his resignation from the position shortly after the governor’s resignation was make public.
The development has reset the political template in Kano, with three major persons in contention. They are the governor, his aggrieved godfather, Kwankwaso and the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, who recently fell out with the governor over alleged, critical statements over insecurity in the state when in actual fact the problem was political in view of the perceived governorship ambition of the Senator in 2027.
POWERPLAY INVOLVING GOVERNOR YUSUF, KWANKWASO, BARAU
As things stand now, Barau will control virtually all the 13 LGAs. Senator Hanga and Kwankwaso will have most of the rest. But Governor Yusuf has followership in all the local government areas, courtesy of his infrastructural development across the state.
The governor’s resignation from the NNPP four days after he met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa amid reports of his imminent defection to the APC, is expected to maintain and strengthen the governing party’s presence in the Northwest geo-political zone.
Only that zone has seven states with a heavy voting population, particularly in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina. Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto and Jigawa are added to make the number of states seven. In the 2023 presidential election, the North-West geopolitical zone produced 6.6millon votes of the total 23 million votes, which is 28 per cent of the total votes cast in the country.
This makes the zone most important in the 2023 presidential election. In that year’s general poll, APC got 2.6m votes, which was 40 percent of its total of 8.8m votes; followed by the PDP, which got 2.3m votes, amounting to 35 per cent of its total of 6.9m votes; NNPP got 1.2m, which is 19 per cent of its total of 1.5m votes and LP got 350,000, which is 5 percent of its total 6.1m votes.
THEWILL however gathered that the wrangling in the NNPP and the opposition of Yusuf’s political godfather to his defection to the APC, has weakened his status in the state so much so that he would need full and continued support from “Abuja,” to withstand the forces at play in Kano.
To strengthen his influence, Governor Yusuf is believed to have entered a deal with the APC in the state to share post- defection political appointments in the ratio of 60 per cent to 40 per cent, respectively in a new cabinet. On Friday evening, the governor took the first step towards the realisation of the deal by announcing the replacement of his political adviser, Suraju Kwankwaso with Mustapha Bakwana.
Interestingly, Bakwana is a former political adviser to ex-governor Abdullahi Ganduje. Bakwana had dumped Ganduje and the APC a few month ago to join the NNPP under the Kwankwasiyya Political Movement. His appointment is scene as part of the political re-allignment following the recent development in the state’s political landscape.
Still, the Deputy Senate President, is said to be throwing his considerable weight around to align with the recent party directive that defection to the APC is not a guarantee for an automatic ticket. As an ex-House of Representative member from 1999 to 2003 and a third-term Senator since 2015, Senator Barau has a gigantic political structure, especially in his Kano North Senatorial District comprising 13 LGAs in the state, whose votes have always been massive. So, he is well positioned to give Governor Yusuf a good run for his money at the party primary for the governorship position. That is the reason his camp has repeatedly asked the party to reject any automatic ticket for the governor. That would help him consolidate his position.
Party sources say the APC is unperturbed by such agitations as the primary would be directed from Abuja when the time comes. The work is to get the Northwest state with a very high voting strength into the party and then sort out plans to placate the aggrieved with promises and appointments.
For Kwankwaso, his dominance of the political structure of the state has been checked by the governor’s resignation from the NNPP alongside senior and junior lawmakers and all local government chairmen. The development has dealt a big blow to the Kwankwasiyya Movement as they have a large followership, especially at the grassroots. Pundits say the event will certainly curtail Kwankwaso’s political power and electoral influence in the state.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Currently, the trio of Governor Yusuf, Senator Barau and Kwankwaso are in a serious power play to hold their grounds in the shifting sands of Kano politics ahead of the 2027 general election. With 21 out of 40 members of the Assembly, eight out of 14 members of the House of Representatives and all 44 Local Government Chairmen 44 LGA Chairmen and the support of ‘Abuja,” that is the President and the APC National Working Committee, NWC, Governor Yusuf, appears to have the upper hand over his rivals. But, he would need deft and the charisma vis-avis his mentor, Kwankwaso, to make a huge difference.
Earlier, Kwankwaso had alleged that public office holders are being coerced to endorse a plan by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kwankwaso made the allegation in a video message shared on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, claiming that members of the Kano State House of Assembly, local government chairmen, and other political appointees were being compelled to choose between the Kwankwasiyya Movement and the “Gandujiyya” (APC) faction, a reference to the former APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje. Even so, Ganduje’s impact is still to be felt in the ongoing triangular rivalry involving the governor, Kwankwaso and Senator Barau.
Kwankwaso stated that the pressure has become so intense that several officials have reportedly been hospitalised due to emotional strain. “Since this crisis started, several chairmen, councillors and state lawmakers have spoken to me about their predicament,” Kwankwaso said.
Despite the current friction, Kwankwaso maintained that the political contest for 2027 remains wide open, expressing confidence in the resilience of his grassroots supporters.
“Going by what is happening in Kano today, we need to start preparing because there are people who are hell-bent on destroying what we built over time. My mission is to always fight for the ordinary people. I would not compromise with those who exploit the masses,” Kwankwaso told his supporters at his Miller Road residence at the weekend, in his reaction to Yusuf’s resignation from the party. He therefore urged his supporters to begin early mobilisation ahead of the 2027 election, cautioning against complacency.
Nonetheless, the former Kano governor still packs some punch. Except for the LGA Chairmen who resigned alongside the governor, dealing a blow to his grassroots support, Kwankwaso still has some loyalists among elected, appointed and activists in the Kwankwasiyya movement. But they are not strong enough to support the faction of the NNPP in the state, whose structure literally crumbled with the exit of an only governor-Yusuf- on its platform.
Reliable sources told THEWILL that Kwankwaso is likely to defect with his supporters and loyalists, especially those who believe that their electoral fate lies with him, to the African Democratic Congress, ADC. With NNPP gone in the state, he would need a popular platform to retain his relevance and rally his remaining supporters. As presidential candidate of the NNPP in the 2023 general election, 997,279 of his total 1.5 million votes came from Kano, while the remaining 499,392 votes came from other parts of the country.
Speculation was rife at the weekend that he may field Deputy Governor, Comrade Gwarzo as the governorship candidate of the new party they are going to defect to in the coming days.
NNPP LAMENTS
Meanwhile, the faction of the party that took sides with the governor during his pre-resignation differences with Kwankwaso and made him leader of the party, lamented his exit on Saturday.
According to its National Secretary, Comrade Oginni Olaposi Sunday, the party has accepted Governor Yusuf’s resignation “in good faith.”
The party’s leadership, under the National Chairman, Dr. Agbo Gilbert Major, said the internal crises had posed serious challenges to the party’s unity and effective coordination.
“The resignation of Governor Abba Yusuf marks the conclusion of a difficult chapter in the life of our party. We wish him well in his future political endeavours and urge our members nationwide to remain calm, resilient and committed to building a strong political platform capable of delivering a new Nigeria.” he said.
Abdullahi Yusuf is a seasoned journalist, communicator and was previously the Deputy Editor-In-Chief and Zonal Manager, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Jos, where he retired on December 15, 2021
