Ganduje pays surprise visit to Shekarau in desperate bid to halt mass defection from Kano APC

GOVERNOR Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State paid a surprise visit to one of his predecessors Senator Ibrahim Shekarau on Friday in a last ditch attempt to halt the ongoing mass exodus from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senator Shekarau was governor between 2003 and 2011 and ran for president in the 2011 general elections. Currently, he is the senator representing the Kano Central Senatorial District but after he lost the battle for control of the party structure to Governor Ganduje, he decamped to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

According to one reliable source, Governor Ganduje visited the Mundubawa residence of Senator Shekarau on Friday evening in a bid to woo him back. He added:  “They went inside and had a discussion but nobody really knows what they discussed.” 

In Kano State, there has been a lot of defection lately, with  even Governor Ganduje’s chief of staff, Ali Makoda, leaving the APC for the NNPP. Alhaji Makoda said he has joined Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s NNPP, along with Badamasi Ayuba, a serving member representing Dambatta/Makoda Federal Constituency, Murtala Kore, the member of the Kano State House of Assembly representing Dambatta and Abdullahi Wango, the serving chairman of Dambatta Local Government Area.

Others who have defected include are Ahmed Speaker, the state Auditor of APC; Najib Abdussalam, the zonal APC youth leader; Umar Maitsidau, a former chairman of Makoda Local Government Area; Halliru Danga Maigari, former member of the Kano State House of Assembly representing Rimingado/Tofa and Hafizu Sani Maidaji, a former member of the Kano State House of Assembly representing the Dambatta Constituency. Also joining the NNDP from the APC were Safiyanu Harbau, a former member of the House of Representatives representing Tsanyawa/Kunchi Federal Constituency and Habiba Yandalla, immediate past APC women's leader.