KEY POINTS

• Salihu Yakasai, former aide to Abdullahi Ganduje, has defected from APC to ADC after resigning from the ruling party.
• He described the move as a new political direction following consultations with family and associates.
• Yakasai previously criticised APC’s handling of insecurity and cited governance failures as reasons for his political shift.

Salihu Tanko Yakasai, former media aide to ex-Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje, has defected from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Yakasai announced the move in a post on X, stating that he had resigned from the ruling party and completed his registration with the ADC after consultations with family, friends, and political associates.

According to him, the decision to join the ADC represents a new political direction. He confirmed that he had obtained his membership card and expressed hope that the party would have the opportunity to form government at all levels.

Yakasai also prayed that the move would prove beneficial to Nigerians and align with his political objectives.

History of political shifts and fallout with APC

Yakasai’s relationship with the APC has been marked by previous exits and returns. In February 2021, Ganduje dismissed him as media aide after he criticised the party’s handling of insecurity.

He later resigned from the APC in March 2022 and joined the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), where he emerged as the party’s governorship candidate in Kano for the 2023 election. He subsequently returned to the APC in August 2023 before his latest defection to the ADC.

In a February interview, Yakasai criticised the APC, saying the party had failed to deliver on its promises to Nigerians.

He argued that insecurity, economic mismanagement, and corruption, issues previously attributed to the Peoples Democratic Party, persist under the current administration. He also emphasised that the primary responsibility of government is to safeguard lives and property.