The governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, has begun holding meetings with some APC leaders in Kano in preparation for his defection to the ruling party.
DAILY NIGERIAN had previously reported the governor’s scheduled meeting with President Bola Tinubu in France, but insiders said the governor cancelled the trip at the eleventh hour.
While others attributed the governor’s abrupt cancellation of the Paris trip to “visa issues”, others alleged that Mr Yusuf did not get the president’s clearance to see him.
Recall that Mr Yusuf last week had a secret meeting with his godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his Miller Road residence in Kano to douse the tension and backlash that greeted his plan dump him and defect to the ruling party.
Sources said during Mr Yusuf’s meeting with Kwankwaso, the governor assured his godfather that he would not take any action until he met with the president and told him about the NNPP national leader’s “terms and conditions of joining APC”.
But as the APC congress clock ticks, access to the president fails and storm gathers around the governor, sources said the governor may likely announce his resignation from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, “any moment”.
DAILY NIGERIAN reliably gathered that the governor held a meeting with the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abba Bichi, on Tuesday to further intimate him about his resolve to join the APC and clear grounds for him.
On Wednesday, the governor also met with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Citizenship and Leadership, Nasir Ja’oji, and asked him to call the state chairman of APC, Abdullahi Abbas, for a meeting (with the governor).
Sources said the governor had also directed his spokesman to invite some media representatives to Abuja for “a crucial briefing”.
“Already the governor has invited his social media aides and a select group of local radio stations to Abuja for a major briefing. The agenda is still not clear. It may be a briefing after a council meeting or announcement on his new political direction,” said a source privy to the directive.
On Monday, the Kano APC stakeholders met for a marathon nuctunal meeting at Abdullahi Ganduje’s Haile Selassie Street, Abuja residence to discuss the governor’s defection and e-membership registration.
During the meeting, Mr Ganduje harped on forgiveness and unity and also defended himself against the governor’s criticism that he closed 26 skills acquisition institutes established by the Kwankwaso administration.
The APC stakeholders had earlier planned to register the governor as number one APC member in the registration portal, but as the governor teeters by cancelling the defection date twice, the stakeholders decided to forge ahead without him.
But when the governor was hinted about the stakeholders’ plan to go ahead without him, sources said he reached out to them, pleading for postponement and affirming his plan to join the APC.
DAILY NIGERIAN learnt that the stakeholders have suspended the e-registration sine die.