Just In: Defection talks deepen as Kano Gov Yusuf meets Tinubu at Aso Rock

Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, on Monday met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid growing political intrigue over his possible defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Yusuf arrived at the Villa at about 4:13pm, dressed in his trademark flowing white babanriga and red Kwankwasiyya cap, and was sighted by journalists heading into the President’s office.

The high-profile meeting has further fuelled speculation surrounding the governor’s long-rumoured move from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the APC—a decision that has reportedly been delayed several times since early January.
This is Yusuf’s first known meeting with Tinubu since the President returned from Abu Dhabi, where he attended the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Sources familiar with the talks told The PUNCH that negotiations stalled after the APC leadership allegedly declined Yusuf’s request for a written guarantee of an automatic governorship ticket for the 2027 elections.

The governor is also said to be pushing for the right to nominate a minister to represent Kano State in the Federal Executive Council, as well as the authority to replace Kano-based federal appointees with his loyalists.

These demands have reportedly pitched Yusuf against influential APC figures in Kano, including Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who is believed to be nursing his own governorship ambition ahead of 2027.

In a related development, Yusuf recently shared a video on his official Facebook page showing him presiding over the first Kano State Executive Council meeting of 2026 at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

Meanwhile, his political mentor and NNPP national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has openly condemned the planned defection, describing it as a betrayal and warning that Yusuf would face serious political consequences if he defects.

Kwankwaso’s son, Hon. Mustapha Kwankwaso, alongside other cabinet members loyal to the NNPP leader, has reportedly vowed to resign immediately should the governor officially join the APC.

Adding another twist, APC chieftain and lawmaker from Kano, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, claimed in a viral video that President Tinubu ordered the suspension of the APC’s ongoing e-registration exercise in Kano until Yusuf formally defects.
According to Doguwa, the President wants the governor to be the first to register as an APC member in the state.

Earlier this month, Tinubu had publicly praised Yusuf in a birthday message marking his 63rd birthday, commending his infrastructural strides and grassroots-focused governance.

“Governor Yusuf’s leadership experience, particularly his years as commissioner managing strategic portfolios in Kano State, may have prepared him for the kind of infrastructural changes now witnessed in the state,” Tinubu said.

He highlighted Yusuf’s urban renewal projects, road construction across local governments, and improvements in the education sector, noting better student performance in NECO examinations following the declaration of a state of emergency in education.

The President also described Kano as “the bastion of progressive politics in the North,” adding that Yusuf’s administration reflects the legacy of grassroots development and advocacy for the talakawa championed by the late Mallam Aminu Kano.