A total of 26 chieftains of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), including the former National Chairman, Prof Rufa’i Alkali, and three governorship candidates, have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In his words, “To us, the APC is more accommodating. We are even more convinced that there is a sense of urgency to address the political, economic, and social issues that confront our country in order to bring greater good to the greater number of Nigerians, especially the poor, the underprivileged, the women, the youth, and other vulnerable groups in our society. And we believe His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will see us through.”

Ganduje, while welcoming the former NNPP chieftains, praised their decision to join the APC, stating that he knew a lot about the merger that formed the NNPP and its subsequent corruption by the Kwankwasiyya movement.

In response, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Yakubu Shendam, downplayed the significance of the defection, referring to the defectors as lightweight politicians and expressing hope that they wouldn’t become a liability to the APC.

The NNPP chieftains who defected to the APC include Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi, who was the governorship candidate in Kaduna State; Prof. Bem Angwe, the governorship candidate in Benue State; Garba Umar, the governorship candidate in Yobe State; Binta Bello, the former Gombe Commissioner for Women Affairs; Abigail Albashi, the Gombe senatorial candidate; Nuhu Audu, the Kaduna NNPP Chairman; Dr. Isa Shika, the former Kaduna PDP Chairman and immediate past Secretary of NNPP (North West); Mikaih Takwat, the Kaduna senatorial candidate; and several others.