Rabiu Kwankwaso, national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, will formally defect to the African Democratic Congress on Monday, with his declaration ceremony set for Kano.
ADC National Chairman David Mark and Secretary Rauf Aregbesola will receive the former Kano governor at the event.
The recently resigned Deputy Governor of Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo, is expected to join him.
The ADC had courted Kwankwaso for over three months, with negotiations briefly collapsing last Tuesday after he demanded a vice-presidential slot on the party’s 2027 ticket — a commitment Mark refused to make.
A private meeting between Kwankwaso and Aregbesola in Abuja on Thursday broke the deadlock.
By Friday, an ADC official confirmed: “He has agreed to join without preconditions.”
An NNPP leader noted that “Kwankwaso owns Kano, and he will demonstrate his strength on Monday.”
The defection comes amid a broader opposition realignment ahead of 2027, with the ADC also in alliance talks with the Nigeria Democratic Congress and leaders including Peter Obi, Governor Seyi Makinde, and former Bayelsa governor Seriake Dickson.
The ruling APC shrugged off the news. “He is not a threat to President Tinubu’s second term,” said APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru.
“Even in 2023, he won in only one state.”
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