Former presidential candidate and leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has warned that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf sealed his political fate the moment he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring that the governor would eventually regret abandoning the NNPP.
Kwankwaso said Governor Yusuf’s decision came as a profound shock, insisting that neither he nor most party faithful anticipated such a move. According to him, many initially believed the defection was part of a behind-the-scenes arrangement.
“Even now, I sometimes feel like it is a dream. Many people thought it was some agreement between him and me or between him and others,” Kwankwaso said.
Governor Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP on January 23, 2026, and joined the APC three days later, less than three years after riding the NNPP platform to victory in the Kano governorship election. At the defection ceremony, Yusuf said he was aligning with what he described as a political direction that would best serve the development interests of Kano State.
However, Kwankwaso, speaking in his first major interview since the split, told the BBC that Yusuf had “handed over the mandate of the people of Kano to the Gandujiyya political camp” without any convincing justification.
“When I reflect, I ask myself who was at fault - was it me, the party, or the members? I have not been able to find a genuine reason for what happened,” he said.
The NNPP leader rejected claims that internal crises forced the governor out of the party, arguing that disagreements are inevitable in any political organisation. He maintained that the NNPP remains one of the most stable parties in the country.
“No political party is free of complaints. But I can say, to the best of my knowledge, that no party is more peaceful and organised than the NNPP,” Kwankwaso said.
Kwankwaso also took aim at politicians who left the NNPP but still profess loyalty to the Kwankwasiyya ideology, insisting that such a position was contradictory.
“Light and darkness have already been defined in Kano. If you believe in Kwankwasiyya, then remain where Kwankwasiyya is,” he said.
Referring to the public endorsement of Governor Yusuf by former Kano governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje during the APC defection, Kwankwaso said the gesture was politically damaging.
“The moment Ganduje raised his hand, the election was already lost. If Ganduje truly had the power to raise someone to victory, he would have done so in 2019 and 2023,” he said.
Kwankwaso expressed confidence that Yusuf and his allies would face stiff resistance within the APC, predicting that the consequences of the defection would soon become clear.
“Even if he never returns to us, he will regret this decision,” he said.
On the future of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Kwankwaso insisted that Kano remains firmly within the NNPP’s political grip, adding that efforts were underway to build new alliances aimed at repositioning both Kano and Nigeria.
Kwankwaso remains one of the most influential political figures in northern Nigeria, particularly among young people. Since the era of Malam Aminu Kano, observers say no northern politician has built a political ideology with such a loyal mass following as Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiyya movement, whose supporters are widely recognised by their red caps.
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