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The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State, Abdullahi Abbas, has said the party is open to welcoming Governor Abba Yusuf if he defects from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Abbas said the APC would not reject any politician joining its ranks, stressing that politics is about strength in numbers.
“He is welcome to our party, because politically no right thinking politician will reject a political addition and as you know, politics is a game of numbers,” he said.
“Therefore, defection to your party means addition to your number and by extension an increase to our success during the polls.”
Abbas added that the party’s position has always been clear.
“We have made our point clear on several occasions that we will welcome anyone that has seen the beauty of our party and wants to join us,” he said in am interview with Daily trust.
On concerns about automatic tickets, Abbas said the issue is premature.
“That is not an issue for now, it is an issue of when all processes are completed and whoever is coming has finalized his or her defection processes,” he said.
He noted that Governor Yusuf would not be defecting alone.
“There are elected local government chairmen, councilors and other political office holders that will defect to our party with him,” Abbas said.
According to him, discussions on strategy would come later.
“Therefore, it is an issue of when all has been finalized, then we will sit down and map out a strategy that all will benefit from,” he said, adding that the party’s focus is winning the 2027 elections.
“We await his coming and believe me we will work out a modality that will ensure the success of the party in a unanimous manner without any form of crisis between old members and the new members,” Abbas said.
Sharing his personal view, he added, “I believe in Nigerian political contests, it is very hard for an incumbent governor to fail the primaries.”
Abbas also dismissed reports about delays in the governor’s defection. He described them as rumours, saying, “The governor didn’t openly declare that he was coming to APC on a particular date.”
He explained that defection by a sitting governor involves careful steps.
“A governor’s defection is not something that one can just work-up one day and say, I have decamped,” Abbas said.
“There are processes involved and until those processes are duly followed and completed, the defection continues to remain a plan yet to be executed.”
Automatic ticket issue will be resolved – APC expresses readiness to receive Kano’s Yusuf
