Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, former Kaduna State governor, and ex-Senator Suleiman Uthman Hunkuyi, have explained why they, along with other political heavyweights, left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition groups to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
At a grand rally in Kaduna over the weekend, Governor Uba Sani officially received 50 opposition stalwarts and thousands of their supporters into the APC.
Among the defectors were former Governor Yero, Senators Hunkuyi, Danjuma La’ah, and Shehu Sani, along with several former lawmakers and political figures, including Alh. Abubakar Mustapha, Hon. Donatus K. Mathew, and Hon. Amos Gwamna Magaji.
While the rally was underway at Murtala Muhammad Square, former Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who was in Kaduna for the PDP North-West Executive Council Meeting, criticized the defectors.
He accused them of prioritizing personal benefits—what he termed “stomach infrastructure”—over national interest.
Tambuwal also described the APC as a party lacking focus and responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes.
However, former Governor Yero defended their decision, stating that they joined the APC to contribute to the “purposeful leadership” of Governor Uba Sani.
He said, “Governor Uba Sani has within less than two years brought positive changes to governance. He has initiated a lot of rural transformation projects.
“These are the things we have seen in Governor Uba Sani. He is a leader that listens and carries everyone along, irrespective of ethno-religious background and even political affiliation.
“Our coming into the APC will in the coming months signal an influx of other opposition members. And I am sure the APC will be just to all of us and treat us like every other APC member. This will show the people who are still contemplating that this is the right place to be.
“The APC should know that we are not here to fight or cause crises in the ruling party; all we want is justice and fairness. Chieftains of our former parties have not left us; up until a few days ago, they were still reaching out to see whether they could hold us back in the PDP and other parties, but we told them we had made up our minds to join the APC.
“When our former parties failed to hold us back, they are now calling us paper weights, but we are going to show them by 2027 who are the real paper weights.
“We are not going to fight with anyone, but we will contribute our own quota, and we are confident that APC will emerge victorious in the Presidential, Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections,” he said.
Also, Senator Hunkuyi said he was moved by the gesture of Governor Uba Sani, who went round and reached out to all the people chased out of the APC by the former Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i.
He said, “I am one of the founding members of the APC in Kaduna, but while the journey was going on smoothly, the driver of the vehicle matched brake and asked some of us to drop from the vehicle; we dropped without arguing, but we thank God today that Governor Uba Sani went round all the places where people were dropped and picked us back into the vehicle,” he said.
Hunkuyi, who was the 2023 governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), stated further that “Governor Uba Sani succeeded in bringing us back to the APC because he is a just leader.”
Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani could not be reached for his comment, even as he was not present at the rally.
