By Kolawole Ojebisi
The last may not have been heard about the brewing leadership crisis in Kano State.
This is as the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, Abdullahi Abbas, on Monday, said the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, is not a member of the party.
Abdullahi Abbas stated this while responding to the swipe Yusuf Abdullahi Ata took at him recently during an interview on BBC Hausa.
Trouble started when Ata kicked against reinstating the Kano State party chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, the purported anointed candidate of the National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Atta, who spoke at the Fagge APC Caucus meeting in Kano on Friday ahead of the APC National Executive Council, (NEC) meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday), said the party would fail to wrest the reins of power from the New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP) in the state with Abbas at its helm.
There are widespread speculations that Ganduje is hell-bent on imposing Abbas as the party’s chairman for another term having already spent about 10 years in charge
The Minister, however, threatened to defect from the party should it fail to change its leadership in the state.
“We are making it clear to everyone, if they bring him back, we will leave. The party will surely fail again. We are not with such people, and no matter what happens, we will not align with them. They send us messages, and we respond accordingly.
“We were raised with good moral upbringing; we know who God is, we respect our scholars and elders, and we will not compromise our values. If they insist on bringing him back, we will leave, and I swear, the party will fall again.
“Votes do not give power, money cannot buy power, and even the people do not ultimately decide who rules. Gawuna and Garo won the election cleanly, but fraud was committed against us. We went to court, and it was proven that we were cheated. Yet in the end, the One who gives power withheld it from us because we challenged Him,” Ata said.
But responding to Ata’s threat on Monday, Abbas alleged that Ata worked against the party during the 2023 election, and they communicated the same to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Abdullahi Abbas said, “To us APC members, Yusuf Ata is not a member of the APC. We don’t even know why he was appointed a minister. All over Kano State it was only in his local government we came third during the 2023 election.
“We were not aware that he was being appointed a minister. We told the president that he is not a member of our party. He did anti-party. He is only a local champion.”
