A former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has formally announced his defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), DailyTrust is reporting. This is coming barely three months after Shekarau defected to NNPP from the All Progressives Congress. Shekarau made the declaration on Monday at his Mundubawa home in Kano. He was formally received into the PDP by the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the party’s national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, among other bigwigs. Shekarau also said he had written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce his withdrawal from the senatorial race for Kano central under the NNPP. Other PDP bigwigs in attendance include the party’s vice presidential candidate and Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa; governors of Sokoto and Taraba, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Darius Ishaku. Others are former Vice President, Namadi Sambo, the chairman of the BOT of the party, former governors of Jigawa (Saminu Turaki and Sule Lamido), Sokoto (Attahiru Bafarawa), Kaduna (Ahmed Makarfi), Adamawa (Boni Haruna), among others.

  Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, a former Governor of Lagos, did not get the second term ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) because incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu defeated him at the 2018 primaries. Dele Alake, Director of Media and Communications of the Campaign Council of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential candidate of the ruling party, said this during a Twitter Space hosted by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (ABAT) Media Centre, on Sunday. Daily Trust reports that since the return of democracy in 1999, Ambode is the only Lagos governor who did not secure a second term ticket. Ambode was said to have fallen out with the leadership of the party controlled by Tinubu which led to his defeat in the direct governorship primary. Clearing the air on the Twitter space in response to a question asked by the Moderator, Alake, a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy under Tinubu, said Tinubu did not deny Ambode the second term ticket. According to him, Ambode went through the primary with Sanwo-Olu and subsequently lost. He said, “In a political competition, there must be supporters here and there. Yes, Fashola’s successor (Ambode) came into office, he was supported by Asiwaju as Asiwaju supported Fashola. But let me use this opportunity to clear one point, a misconception that Ambode wasn’t given a second term. It is not true. “The governorship mandate is not for Asiwaju to give or take. It is for the people of Lagos State to give or to take or withdraw. Ambode was in office, for whatever reason he might have committed, of course, he did commit gaps and faux pas but he also went through election. Maybe people have forgotten or they have selective amnesia, Ambode went through the political process and lost. “Asiwaju did not take the ticket from him. He contested the primaries with Babajide Sanwo-Olu and lost. The primary was conducted in the open all over the state and the media covered it and it was shown everywhere. Why do people always succumb to such partisanship occasioned by blind prejudices? Yes it was Asiwaju’s right to support any candidate or aspirant, it is a natural phenomenon.” He stated further that Sanwo-Olu emerged the same way Ambode was elected in 2014. “The current Deputy Governor contested and I remember more than 12 others contested with him. Ambode emerged the winner. So will all the others that lost now accuse Asiwaju of not giving them the ticket?” “Now fast forward to 2018, it was direct primary that was done in all the wards and communities, designated centres and the man lost and Sanwo-Olu won. So, will it be Asiwaju’s fault that he supported Sanwo-Olu or whatever? That’s the game of politics. So, Ambode went through the political process. He was not denied. If he had been denied the opportunity to take part in the process, we could have said, ‘okay, he was denied.’”

  Ibrahim Shekarau, former governor of Kano state, is expected to make his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) official on Monday. Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, and other leading members of the party are in Kano to welcome Shekarau into the party. An official of the PDP who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Atiku will be in the state for three days to woo other opposition parties’ members. The official said chieftains of the party had a private meeting with Shekarau on Sunday to perfect his defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). “As I’m talking to you now, we met Shekarau at his residence and we are busy arranging his defection along with his supporters into PDP. We perfected all the arrangements,” the source said. “Our party officials are fully engaged to ensure successful hosting of our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the national chairman of the party Dr Iyorchia Ayu. “Atiku will stay in Kano for three days to articulate and woo many opposition members into the PDP. I am confident that the party will win the 2023 general election. “Atiku will meet with various groups of Islamic scholars, youth groups and other important groups in order to persuade them to vote for him to win the 2023 election.” Until 2018, Shekarau was a member of the PDP, with his exit stemming from the internal rift in the Kano chapter of the party. He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 and went on to contest the Kano central senatorial election on the party’s platform. A few months ago, he dumped the ruling party for the NNPP following his rift with Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano. But just last week, Shekarau said he was done with the NNPP, alleging that Rabiu Kwankwaso, the party’s presidential candidate, betrayed the agreement made with him before joining the party.

  Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the party, arrived in Kano state Sunday afternoon. While in the state, they are expected to welcome Ibrahim Shekarau, former governor of Kano, into the PDP. TheCable on Saturday reported that Atiku was expected back in the country for Shekarau’s defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta state governor, and Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa, are also in Kano state.

  Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has described as mischievous, the reports saying he would step down for anyone in the 2023 presidency race. Speaking with journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on Sunday, Kwankwaso described the report as “absolute rubbish”. “Some people are terribly mischievous and I don’t see how any of these four political parties at this critical time will accept joining one another. There are some elements making mischievous postings and insults on social media, but we believe in sportsmanship and we are out for good campaign.” “To say NNPP will join or withdraw for APC or PDP is absolutely rubbish; it can’t happen. Some are envisaging that there will not be an outright winner in the first round of the presidential election but from our own camp, we believe that we are going to win during the first round of the presidential election because we have the people. “Some people are saying Kwankwaso’s political base is Kano state and I am so happy about that because Kano is not a small state in terms of millions of registered voters, some are saying Northwest and others are saying the North is the only base for Kwankwaso but they are making a mistake. Unfortunately, some people are now campaigning on social media; they have employed irresponsible people talking about things that they know is not true but we have kept on telling their masters. To say that anyone of us is withdrawing for the other, everybody knows that is absolutely impossible. “Don’t forget that six months ago. there was nothing like NNPP; it was when we joined that it became the force that it is today and from now to another six months, only God knows what this party will become.” Kwankwaso further said Nigerians had realised that the country is on the verge of collapse, stating that the indices are there for prople to see. “The people of goodwill are now saying, how do we get out of it because nobody wants this country to collapse and that’s is why you see people coming into the movement to rescue the country. You see these parties, the PDP and APC, I was a founding member of all the two but they have derailed completely and that is why some of us had to leave and bring in a new thing; that was why we brought NNPP and people are buying into it. I am so happy because before yesterday nobody gave us any chance in Borno State, but I can tell you with if what I saw yesterday, if they are the only people who will vote for us in this state, we will win this election.”