Former El-Rufai ally, others defect to APC in Kaduna

Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, a former ally of Nasir El-Rufai and former Commissioner of Finance, has defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna. According to Daily Trust, Sa’idu led over 200,000 card-carrying members to the APC during a ceremony in Zaria. He was accompanied by other defectors, including former ADC gubernatorial aspirant Alhaji Jafaru Sani and former Commissioner of Finance Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari.

Sa’idu, who also served as a one-time Chief of Staff in the El-Rufai administration, declared the ADC dead in Kaduna State. Daily Trust reports that Sa’idu stated his group, the Kaduna De-Initiatives, had previously formed the party's structure from the ward to the state level but left after claiming the party was hijacked and teleguided by a family. Punch Nigeria also noted that Sa'idu declared the ADC dead in the state following his departure with his supporters.

In a separate report, Premium Times notes that Uba Sani is targeting three million votes in Kaduna, an increase from a previous promise of two million. The outlet reports there are 4,600,000 registered voters in Kaduna State, with 96% having received voter cards.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Punch, Premium Times, Daily Trust — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.