The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has criticised the resignation and defection of Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, describing his decision as a “betrayal of the trust reposed in him by the people of the state.”
The party dismissed Governor Yusuf’s claim that his resignation was prompted by an irredeemable crisis within the NNPP, calling the allegation “baseless and an afterthought.”
In a statement, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Bamofin Ladipo Johnson, said the Governor was elected on the strength of his decades-long loyalty and service to the Kwankwasiyya Movement, adding that his defection undermines that legacy.
“It is with profound anguish and deep disappointment that we received the news of the resignation and defection of His Excellency, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP),” the statement read.
“We deeply regret that Governor Abba, a man entrusted by the people of Kano State on the strength of his decades of unwavering loyalty and dedicated service to the Kwankwasiyya Movement, has now chosen to betray that sacred trust. By this action, he risks returning the state to the very forces that have long opposed its progress and the aspirations of its people.”
Johnson highlighted that the NNPP had conducted congresses at all levels, from ward to national, culminating in its national convention held on 20 December 2025, which Governor Yusuf attended.
The party also cited its recent electoral successes as evidence of internal stability, recalling that it won supplementary elections in Bagwai/Shanono and Ghari/Tsanyawa constituencies in August 2025, barely three months ago.
“The assertion he made of an irredeemable crisis in the party is therefore baseless and an afterthought,” Johnson said.
He further drew parallels with historical defections in Kano politics: “This is not the first time such a betrayal has occurred in the political history of Kano. In the early 1980s, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi defected from the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) to the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP), taking with him the vast majority of elected officials, including nearly all local government chairmen and councillors, 120 out of 126 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, and most Kano representatives in the National Assembly.
“Yet, the electorate delivered a resounding verdict: In the 1983 gubernatorial election, Rimi was humiliatingly defeated by Mallam Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo of the PRP, finishing second. Even more telling, of the 120 state assembly members who joined Rimi’s defection, only one was re-elected, an outcome that should serve as a sobering lesson to any politician contemplating the path of disloyalty.”
Johnson urged Kano residents and Nigerians to remain calm and patient despite the development.
“While this development is deeply disturbing and painful for all who have invested in the Kwankwasiyya vision, we urge the 1,019,602 people who cast their votes for his election, as well as the good people of Kano State and Nigeria, to remain calm, patient and restrained. Let us not descend into acrimony or division.
“History has consistently shown that those who trade loyalty for expediency, and honour for deceit, rarely escape the judgment of the people. The truth endures, and the loyalty of Kano’s masses to principled leadership will ultimately prevail.”
On Friday, 23 January 2026, Governor Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP, the platform in which he was elected governor in 2023, citing “deepening internal crises” and “prolonged leadership disputes.”
He decamped along with 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives, and all 44 LGA Chairmen in the state.
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