A new twist has developed in the politics of Kano State as a former governor of the state, Ibrahim Shekarau, has dumped the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Mr Shekarau’s spokesperson, Ya’u Sule, disclosed the defection in an interview with the BBC Hausa on Tuesday.
Although he did not disclose the new party his principal is moving to, there are already indications Mr Shekarau will return to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he helped form in the build up to the 2015 election.
Mr Sule said the decision of the former governor is connected with the recent dissolution of party executives in the state.
The National Working Committee of the PDP, last week Thursday, dissolved the Kano State Executive Committee of the party and constituted a caretaker committee to pilot its affairs.
No reason was given for the dissolution, but it is believed to be connected to the recent defection of another ex-Kano governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to the party.
Before Mr Shekarau’s defection, hundreds of Shekarau’s supporters on Monday protested against the decision of party.
The spokesperson explained that, after Mr Shekarau notified the national working committee of the consequences of the decision, nothing was done to amend it. Rather, five of the seven-member caretaker committee were allotted to Mr Kwankwaso.
“This, we viewed as injustice”, the spokesperson explained.
“Kano PDP is not the only state that received APC decampees. In Sokoto State, Governor Tambuwal’s defection doesn’t affect the structure of the party in the state, why Kano? We won’t take that.
“Those executives were legally elected to serve four year tenure, they’re in their second year, scrapping them is illegal,” he said
Mr Yau said Mr Shekarau will consult his supporters while also deciding the political party to join.
Mr Shekarau was a founding member of the APC, but left the party for the PDP after Mr Kwankwaso, then Kano State governor, defected to the APC from the PDP and was given the APC structure in the state.
Kano is the most populous state in Northern Nigeria and the state where President Muhammadu Buhari got his highest votes, (about 1.9 million) in 2015.
Mr Kwankwaso, who declared his intention to slug it out with Mr Buhari at the polls last week at the Chida Hotel, Abuja, has vowed to unseat the incumbent if given the ticket of the major opposition party.
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