By Obinna Uballa
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former presidential candidate and leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has vowed that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf will one day regret leaving the party, describing the governor’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a political miscalculation that undermined his electoral prospects.
Kwankwaso said the news of Yusuf’s departure from the NNPP came as a shock, not only to party members but to himself. “Many people I spoke to felt it was some kind of arrangement – between him and me, or between him and others. Even I often find it hard to believe that things are unfolding the way they are,” he said.
Governor Yusuf officially resigned from the NNPP on Friday, January 23, 2026, and formally joined the APC on Monday, January 26 – less than three years after winning the Kano governorship under the NNPP banner. At the defection event, Yusuf cited a desire to align with a political path he believed would deliver development to Kano State.
In his first media interview since Yusuf’s departure published by the BBC Hausa on Wednesday, Kwankwaso expressed deep disappointment that the governor “handed over the mandate of NNPP members and the people of Kano to the Gandujiyya political camp” without justification.
“When I lie down, I reflect and ask myself: what really happened? Who was at fault? Was it me? Was it the party? Were party members at fault? But I have not been able to find an answer,” he said in Hausa.
Kwankwaso dismissed claims that internal party crises prompted the defection, insisting that no political party is entirely free of grievances. “I can assure you, to the best of my knowledge, there is no party more peaceful and stable than the NNPP,” he said.
He also criticised those who left the NNPP yet still claim allegiance to the Kwankwasiyya ideology, describing it as a clear choice between light and darkness. “If you want to practice Kwankwasiyya, who asked you to leave Kwankwasiyya? Stay where Kwankwasiyya is and practice it there,” he said.
Reflecting on Yusuf’s reception by former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje during his APC defection, Kwankwaso said, “The moment Ganduje raised his hand, the election was already lost. If Ganduje truly had the power to raise someone’s hand to victory, he would have done so in 2019 and 2023.”
Kwankwaso predicted that Yusuf and his associates would face serious political challenges within the APC, insisting, “Even if he does not return, he will regret it.”
On the future of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Kwankwaso affirmed that Kano remains the stronghold of the ideology and that efforts to strengthen alliances and reclaim influence are already underway.
