The 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 thousands of their supporters, at a mega rally held on Saturday.
With the latest defections, APC now has 13 legislators from Kaduna State at the House of Representatives, leaving PDP with three. Also, there are now 26 APC members in the House of Assembly as against eight PDP members.
The mega rally which was held at Murtala Square in Kaduna, was attended by APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, Speaker of the 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 at the event, Governor Uba 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 of the House of Representatives in 2023 but the party now has 14 members in the lower legislative chamber.
‘’Today in Kaduna, we don’t have any opposition. I promised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu some months ago that we would be 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 added.
The Governor pointed out that Kaduna State has 23 local governments and he has spread development across the three geopolitical zones.
Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Nentawe described APC as “the promised land” for Nigerian politicians, adding that the duo of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani deserve a second term owing to their achievements.
House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, noted that the APC has achieved political dominance in Kaduna State, a feat 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 to the mammoth crowd, adding that “we’ve never been this strong before.”
Honourable Husseini Jalo who spoke on behalf of the decampess thanked Governor Uba Sani and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing good leadership in the country and the state respectively.
According to him, Kaduna State is now a one party state and that both the President and Governor Uba Sani will be re-elected for the second time.
The federal legislators who defected from PDP to APC are Hon Sadiq Ango, who represents Sabon Gari federal constituency, Hon Andulkarim Husseini Ahmad(Kaduna South), Hon Aliyu Mustapha Abdullahi(Ikara/Kubau) and Hussaini Jalo(Igabi).
Similarly, other notable defectors are ex Senator Danjuma Lah (PDP), former Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi (NNPP), and ex Senator Shehu Sani (PDP) as well as former Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero, including Hon Saidu Adamu, the State Secretary of PDP.
