Former presidential candidate and NNPP leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has issued a blunt warning to Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, saying the governor will “regret” his decision to abandon the party that delivered him to power.
Kwankwaso said Yusuf’s defection came as a shock, admitting he initially struggled to accept that the governor had truly walked away from the NNPP.
“Many people thought it was an arrangement between him and me, or with others. Even now, I sometimes find it hard to believe how things unfolded,” he said.
Yusuf formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, January 26, 2026, just days after resigning from the NNPP less than three years after winning the Kano governorship election on the party’s platform.
Explaining his move, Yusuf said he acted after reviewing Nigeria’s political direction and concluded that aligning with the APC would better position Kano for development. He said he consulted widely before making the decision.
However, in his first interview since the defection, speaking to the BBC, Kwankwaso said he was deeply disappointed, accusing the governor of handing over the mandate of NNPP members and Kano voters to the Gandujiyya political camp without sufficient justification.
“When I lie down, I keep asking myself was it me, the party, or our members? But I have not found any answer,” he said.
Kwankwaso dismissed claims of an internal crisis within the NNPP, insisting the party remains one of the most stable in the country and that the issues raised by Yusuf could have been resolved through dialogue.
“To the best of my knowledge, there is no party more peaceful than the NNPP,” he said.
On politicians who defected but still claim loyalty to the Kwankwasiyya ideology, Kwankwaso drew a firm line, describing the situation as a clear choice.
“Light and darkness have been defined in Kano. If you want to practice Kwankwasiyya, stay where Kwankwasiyya is,” he said.
He also criticised the elaborate reception organised for Yusuf by former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, arguing it exposed political weakness rather than strength.
“If Ganduje had the power to raise someone’s hand to victory, he would have done so in 2019 and 2023,” he said.
Kwankwaso maintained that Yusuf and his allies would face stiff political challenges within the APC, and that even if the governor never returns to the NNPP, regret would be inevitable.
“Whether he comes back or not, he will regret it,” he said.
Kwankwaso had sponsored Yusuf in the last election, where he defeated Ganduje’s preferred candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, to emerge as Kano State governor.
