- Safiu Kehinde
Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has arrived at the Aso Villa, Abuja, to meet with President Bola Tinubu amid defection rumour.
Yusuf had over the past few weeks been under the spotlight over the alleged plan to defect from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The planned move was reported to have been postponed multiple times.
However, the governor’s arrival at the Presidential Villa on Monday might aid the accomplishment of the plan.
According to reports, Yusuf, dressed in his signature flowing white babanriga and a red Kwankwasiyya cap, arrived at the villa around 4;13pm.
A video shared on X showed the governor exchanging pleasantries with officials of the presidential villa as he walked through the alley.
Sources familiar with the negotiations reportedly attributed the postponement of Yusuf’s defection to the APC leadership’ refusal to grant his demand for a documented assurance of an automatic gubernatorial ticket for the 2027 elections.
The Kano governor was also reported to have sought the right to nominate a minister to represent Kano State in the Federal Executive Council and the authority to replace Kano-based federal appointees with his loyalists.