- Serving Kano Central Senator, Ex-Governor Kabiru Gaya, Former Assembly Speaker, And Key NNPP/NDC Chieftains Collapse Political Structures Into Ruling Party
- Governor Abba Kabir-Yusuf, Ganduje, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibril, And National Chairman Yilwatda Receive Heavyweights At Mammoth Rally
- TSG Boss Tanko-Yakasai Declares Tinubu Rescued Economy From Collapse, Disclosing $53bn Reserves, 15.43% Inflation, And $81.5bn Debt Clearance
- New Entrants Pledge Decisive Mobilisation Across 44 LGAs To Deliver Clean Sweep For APC In 2027 General Elections
KANO — The political tectonic plates of northern Nigeria shifted decisively on Saturday as a serving senator representing Kano Central, Rufai Sani-Hanga, former governor Kabiru Ibrahim-Gaya, and a high-powered bloc of Rabiu Kwankwaso’s frontline loyalists formally defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
The mass defection, unveiled before a mammoth crowd at the official inauguration of the Tinubu Support Groups (TSG) 2.0 State Chapters in the ancient commercial city, completely recalibrates the balance of power in the nation’s largest voting corridor ahead of the high-stakes 2027 general elections.
Received into the APC fold were several political heavyweights who formed the backbone of the opposition apparatus in Kano, including former deputy chairman Ali Datti-Yako, former Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly Isyaku Ali-Danja, and former legislative aspirant Kabiru Kofar-Ruwa.
The wave of defections also swept in Senator Baraka Sani, two former party state chairmen, Senator Mas’ud Eljibrin-Doguwa and Abdullahi Zubairu-Abiya, former Ungogo Local Government Council chairman Badaru Umar, and Senator Abdulmajid Dauda-Dandawaki.
In an unmistakable show of unified party strength, the defectors were formally ushered into the ruling platform by the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nantawe Yilwatda, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir-Yusuf, immediate-past national chairman Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibril.
Welcoming the defectors, Governor Kabir-Yusuf described the political realignment as a monumental consolidation for the APC in Kano, stating that the decision of Sani-Hanga and his formidable political network mirrored deepening public confidence in the administration’s governance agenda.
Kabir-Yusuf gave assurances that the APC remains a broad, accommodating umbrella where every stakeholder will find equitable space to contribute to state and national development, charging all internal blocs to foster unity, stability, and total party cohesion.
Speaking on behalf of the defecting bloc, Senator Sani-Hanga announced their irreversible loyalty to the party hierarchy, declaring that they had collapsed their grassroots structures to partner with the governor and national leadership to guarantee a landslide victory across all ballots in 2027.
The high-octane political realignment served as the launchpad for a bold national economic declaration by the Director-General of the TSG, Dr Umar Tanko-Yakasai, who asserted that President Bola Tinubu has successfully pulled Nigeria’s macroeconomy back from the brink of total structural collapse.
Tanko-Yakasai told the cheering assembly that the administration took the reins of a battered and dislocated treasury in 2023, systematically reversing contraction through surgical fiscal and monetary adjustments over the last three years.
He laid out an aggressive scorecard, revealing that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves have surged from a net baseline of $3.89 billion to over $53 billion, while headline inflation plunged from historic peaks above 34 per cent down to 15.43 per cent.
Citing newly released National Bureau of Statistics benchmarks, the TSG director-general highlighted that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accelerated to 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, lifting Nigeria’s nominal GDP output to ₦119.27 trillion.
On external sovereign exposure, Tanko-Yakasai revealed that the administration settled more than $78 billion in legacy foreign loans alongside an additional $3.5 billion facility contracted during the COVID-19 pandemic, without defaulting on statutory commitments.
He emphasized that monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to states have tripled under the current fiscal dispensation, empowering governors to liquidate inherited debts and maintain seamless civil service salary payments without recourse to federal bailouts.
Tanko-Yakasai pointed to critical social and institutional interventions, notably the operationalisation of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), full financial autonomy for local government councils, and the statutory establishment of regional development commissions to spur balanced development.
Zeroing in on Kano’s strategic standing within the federation, he noted that over 50 Kano indigenes have been absorbed into front-rank federal appointments, while arterial infrastructure projects—including the fully completed Kano-Kaduna expressway and ongoing dualisation works along the Gwarzo-Dayi, Katsina, and Daura corridors—stand as proof of the administration’s investments in the North.
The gathering was electrified as TSG Convener James Abiodun-Faleke formally inaugurated the state executives, declaring that the sheer volume of attendees confirmed Kano’s status as the unassailable fortress of the ruling party.
Echoing the sentiment, Kano State APC Chairman Umar Doguwa and TSG North-West Coordinator Dr Baffa Babba-Dan’agundi insisted the opposition had been hollowed out, maintaining that the state’s three senatorial zones were now unified under one platform.
Consolidating the narrative, former national chairman Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje affirmed that the Renewed Hope Agenda was specifically engineered to lift millions out of poverty, tame insecurity, and ignite sustainable industrial growth.
With the formidable machinery of the Kwankwaso bloc now integrated into the ruling party’s core apparatus and the administration’s macroeconomic metrics showing steady rebound, the APC has delivered an early, devastating blow to the opposition’s northern ambitions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
