A former minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, on Saturday defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to United Democratic Party, UDP.
Mrs Alhassan resigned from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet on today, following her disqualification by the ruling party to contest for governor of Taraba State.
On Thursday, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party took the decision to axe Mrs Alhasan and another minister Adebayo Shittu based on the report of the party’s Governorship Aspirants Screening Committee.
Mr Shittu is aspiring to become the governor of Oyo State, while Mrs Alhassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba, is gunning for Taraba governor.
The minister’s letter of resignation obtained by DAILY NIGERIAN reads in part: “I write with a lot of respect to infor Mr President of my decision to resign my appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as a member of the All Progressives Congress APC).”
Mrs Alhassan further said in the letter that she “had always been a very committed committed party member and was at no time queried or admonished for any wrong doing or unconstitutional behaviour.”
“Up to the time of writing this letter, no reason was given by the Party for my disqualification to contest election under the APC.”
At the UDP secretariat in the state, Mrs Alhassan said she dumped the APC because of the injustice meted on her.
She said she is joining the UDP alongside all her supporters.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that she defected alongside seven APC members of the State House of Assembly, a member of the House of Representatives and all the APC executives in the 16 local government areas and 169 wards of the state.
