A former governor of Kaduna State, Ramalan Yero, and a onetime senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, have defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Also, the gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigerian People Party, NNPP, in the 2023 election and former member of the House of Representatives, Sani Sha’aban, joined the ruling party.
The decampees, alongside their supporters and other bigwigs from the opposition, were received into the APC fold by the state governor, Uba Sani.
Welcoming the decampees into APC at a mega rally in Kaduna on Saturday, the governor assured them of equal rights and privileges like every other party member.
He said there won’t be any form of discrimination against new members who joined the party.
“Someone who joins APC today and the one who has been a foundation member 10 years ago, they are of the same status. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges,” Mr Sani said.
He asked them to notify their supporters of the readiness of APC to accept them into the party, as their doors are still open to accept more defectors.
According to him, the popularity and acceptability of APC is because of its just and fair leadership at both the state and federal levels, adding that the party has come to stay in Kaduna State, the entire north, and Nigeria as a whole.
“In the 2027 election, the electorate will vote for APC in all the elections, from top to bottom. At the top, our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be elected. At the state level, the party will be voted for at the gubernatorial, national, and state assembly elections, by the grace of God,” he said.
The governor promised that projects will be executed in all the nooks and crannies of Kaduna State, irrespective of party affiliations and ethno-religious considerations.
“Politics is different from governance. We will be fair to all, whether or not they voted for us, because that is the oath of office that were swore to uphold as leaders,” he further said.
While acknowledging that leaders are not infallible and bound to make mistakes like anyone, he urged them to always point out his flaws to enable him to correct them.
He also told the crowd that leaders will be held accountable in the hereafter regarding how they led the people whom God had entrusted to them.
Other prominent leaders who defected to the APC include former senator Danjuma Laah, Abubakar Mustapha, Jafaru Kurmin-Kogi, Donatus Mathew, Amos Magaji, Henry Zachariah, Samuel Kambai, Emmanuel Kantiok, Sule Buba, Yakubu Barde, Mato Dogara, Michael Auta, Joseph Ciroma, Idris Zangon-Aya, Muhammad Mahmud, Aliyu, Usman Baba and Seth Bakut.
