Mass defection hits Katsina as APC, PDP, NNPP supporters join ADC

Hundreds of supporters from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have officially decamped to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Katsina State.

The mass defection was announced on Sunday during the formal unveiling of the Katsina State chapter of the ADC, led by former Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa. Membership cards were issued to the decampees, who included men and women from across all 34 local government areas of the state.

Addressing the gathering at the Continental Event Centre in Katsina, Lawal Batagarawa, National Representative of the National Political Coalition Group, blamed the rising wave of insecurity, poverty, inflation, and the Naira’s continued depreciation on the current administration.

He criticized President Bola Tinubu’s government, alleging that several industries had collapsed since he assumed office in 2023.

Batagarawa urged unity among citizens and party members, expressing confidence in the ADC’s capacity to tackle terrorism, banditry, poverty, and illiteracy if voted into power.

ADC State Chairman, Usman Musa Wamba, echoed similar sentiments and expressed optimism about the party’s prospects in the 2027 general elections.

He called on young people and the wider electorate to support the party in order to enjoy true dividends of democracy.

One of the prominent decampees, Aliyu Saulawa, a former Director of Media in the Buhari Campaign Organisation and ex-National Coordinator of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Movement, declared his total loss of confidence in the APC.

He said the ruling party had failed to fulfill even one percent of its promises to Nigerians.

“Without security, there is no livelihood. In the Northwest, we are largely farmers and traders, and without safety, we lose everything, including education, which has already collapsed. I can no longer remain in the APC,” Saulawa stated.

Meanwhile, the Katsina State PDP, led by its 2023 governorship candidate, Yakubu Lado, held an expanded state caucus meeting themed: “Let’s Make Katsina State Work Again,” at the party’s state headquarters.

Lado dismissed rumors suggesting the PDP had collapsed in Katsina, asserting that the party remains strong and vibrant.

He attributed the party’s loss in the 2023 elections to the conduct of its former leader, whose actions, he claimed, alienated many supporters.

“PDP’s structure is still intact in Katsina. We must take this message to our communities.

“Everyone knows PDP’s legacy over the years,” he declared.