By Israel Bulus, Kaduna
Barely 24 hours after the emergence of new state executives, the main opposition party in Kaduna State, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday suffered a major setback, as 10,000 supporters of Senator Shehu Sani defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Senator Shehu Sani who represented Kaduna Central in the upper chamber of the National Assembly from 2015 to 2019, was a PDP gubernatorial aspirant during the 2023 general elections.
The decamping supporters who came from across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State stormed the 2023 APC Campaign Office at NEPA Roundabout, carrying posters of Senator Sani, welcoming him back to the APC.
According to the supporters, they have persuaded their leader, Senator Sani, to return to the ruling party, and they are convinced that they will officially decamp to the APC in the coming week.
One of the leaders of the decamping members and former Campaign Director, of Senator Sani in the PRP, Mr. Monday Jaji, said he has been struggling for Sani’s defection for over two years because of his track record of achievements while he served as Senator of Kaduna Central on the platform of APC.
Commenting on the defection, Jaji said he knows what the APC and Nigerians lost in the ruling Party, adding that Shehu Sani is a man of the masses who stands for the truth.
According to him, “When he was a Senator, Comrade Shehu Sani built seven hospitals across his constituency. He distributed over 200 transformers to communities, assisted the poor masses, and even bought a house for the destitute on Kano Road.
“Shehu Sani built a hospital in Chikun and built 3 in Igabi Local Government, Rigachikun, and Giwa Local Government,” he said.
Receiving the decampees, Kaduna State Chairman of the APC, Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada Rtd, expressed happiness about the return of the defectors to the APC, saying that coming to the party will propel the APC and Kaduna State to greater heights.
The Opposition party (PDP), which had earlier lost some big shots to the ruling party, is troubled by the wave of defection as more lawmakers who lost their return tickets to the National Assembly during the last elections are set to leave the party.
The opposition party, which had earlier lost some big shots to the ruling party, is troubled by the wave of defection as more lawmakers who lost their return tickets to the National Assembly during the last elections are set to leave the party.
