The ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) has attracted more members, with the defection of four Kaduna State House of Assembly lawmakers and five House of Representatives members along with thousand of their supporters, at a mega rally held on Saturday in Kaduna.
With the latest defections, APC now has 13 legislators from Kaduna State in the House of Representatives, leaving the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with three.
Also, there are now 26 APC members in the House of Assembly as against eight PDP members, according to statement today (Sunday) by Ibraheem Musa, media aide to State Governor Uba Sani.
The mega rally was attended by APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda; Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Minister of Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Abbas Lawal, as well as the Chairman of North West Development Commission, Alhaji Lawal Samaila Yakawada, and several thousands of APC supporters.
Speaking during the event, Gov. Sani assured the decampees that APC is one family which does not discriminate against its members, adding that ‘’those that have joined our party today and those that have been with us since the creation of this party will have the same privilege.’
‘’What is more important is your ability to reach out to the grassroots, to carry everyone along, particularly the people of the constituency who elected you, who gave you the opportunity to present them,’’ he added.
The governor recalled that APC had only four members in the House of Representatives in 2023, expressing joy that the party now has 14 members at the federal lower legislative chamber.
‘’Today in Kaduna, we don’t have any opposition. I promised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu some months ago that we were looking at 80 per cent of the votes. But today, I have shifted my ground; about 95 percent of the total votes in Kaduna State will go to APC in 2027,’’ he said.
According to him, the influx of elected members into APC in Kaduna State is not rocket science but based on his administration’s focus on justice, fairness, and inclusivity.
‘’Our state is the most diverse in Nigeria. When we came in, we made sure that we used our diversity as our strength. That is why today, we have not experienced one single ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna State. It’s unprecedented.
‘’We are working as one family. We believe politics is about unity. It’s about working for the interests of the people. Poverty has no respect for religion. Poverty has no respect for ethnicity. Poverty has no respect for political affiliation. We have to work as one family. Our interest is our state,’’ he stressed.
The governor pointed out that Kaduna State has 23 Local Governments (LGs), noting that his administration has spread development across the state’s three geopolitical zones.
Also speaking during the ceremony, Professor Yilwatda described APC as “the promised land” for Nigerian politicians, adding that the duo of President Tinubu and Gov. Sani deserve a second term owing to their achievements.
Taking his turn to speak too, House of Representatives Speaker Abbas noted that APC has achieved political dominance in Kaduna State, a feat, according to him, that no party had ever attained in the state.
“Today, whether in Zone 1, Zone 2, or Zone 3, APC is the party to beat,” he declared, adding that “we’ve never been this strong before.”
Addressing the crowd on behalf of the decampees, Hon. Husseini Jalo thanked Gov. Sani and President Tinubu for providing good leadership in the country and the state respectivel.
According to him, Kaduna State is now a one-party state, predicting that both the President and Gov. Sani will be re-elected in 2027.
The federal legislators who defected from PDP to APC are Hon. Sadiq Ango, who represents Sabon Gari constituency; Hon. Andulkarim Husseini Ahmad (Kaduna South); Hon. Aliyu Mustapha Abdullahi (Ikara/Kubau) and Hussaini Jalo (Igabi).
Similarly, other notable defectors are former Senator Danjuma Lah (PDP); former Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi (NNPP), and former Senator Shehu Sani (PDP).
There were also former State Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero, and Saidu Adamu, the State Secretary of PDP.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Gov. Sani.
