Rabiu Kwankwaso, the national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has disclosed the extraordinary lengths he went to in 2019 to secure the governorship for his then-ally, Abba Yusuf, including personally lobbying Supreme Court justices, following Yusuf’s dramatic defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The political earthquake in Kano unfolded on Monday, January 26, 2026, when Governor Abba Yusuf officially announced his crossover to the ruling APC at a ceremony in Kano, flanked by top APC officials.
His resignation from the NNPP had been submitted the preceding Friday, January 23, citing “deepening internal crises” and “prolonged leadership disputes” within the party as his reasons for leaving.
The defection has been described by Kwankwaso as the deepest political betrayal of his career.
In a video shared on social media by Saifullahi Hassan, his media aide, a visible disappointed in a heartfelt address to supporters at his residence, lamented that Yusuf had handed the NNPP’s mandate to its “enemies.”
He stated it would have been preferable if the governor had joined a lesser-known party like the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
“It would even be better if it was the ADC, something new, they went to. Rather, they took it away and handed it over to enemies,” Kwankwaso said in Hausa, in a video published by his media aide.
To underscore the magnitude of the betrayal, Kwankwaso then recounted the grueling battle they waged together after the controversial 2019 governorship election.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the March 9 poll inconclusive, as the margin between Yusuf (then of the PDP) and the APC’s Abdullahi Ganduje was less than the total cancelled votes.
The 2019 Lobbying Effort Exposed
Kwankwaso disclosed that following the legal challenges to the election, he embarked on a personal mission to seek justice at the highest court.
“In 2019, I took him [Abba Yusuf] to the homes of all the Supreme Court judges in Nigeria to beg them. I and the governor met them in their villages and towns,” Kwankwaso revealed.
He shared a specific anecdote involving former Senate President Pius Anyim, who, upon hearing news of the 2026 defection, immediately contacted him.
“He called me immediately. Before we even finished greetings, he asked me if the news he’s hearing is true or not? He held his head,” Kwankwaso said, implying that Anyim was stunned because he remembered the 2019 struggle. “I had forgotten that in 2019, I took him to the homes of all the Supreme Court judges.”
Despite these efforts, the Supreme Court ultimately dismissed Yusuf’s appeal in January 2020, affirming Ganduje’s victory after a supplementary election.
The recounting of this past loyalty and extreme effort makes Yusuf’s recent defection particularly poignant for Kwankwaso and his supporters. In 2023, with Kwankwaso’s pivotal backing under the NNPP banner, Yusuf finally won the governorship, only to cross over to the very party they had jointly fought against just years prior.
“In my entire life, I cannot remember where such a thing has ever been done before,” Kwankwaso concluded, marking a bitter end to a once-formidable political partnership.
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