{
  "id": 15469345,
  "title": "Former El-Rufai ally, others defect to APC in Kaduna",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/former-el-rufai-ally-others-defect-to-apc-in-kaduna-15469345",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-18T19:00:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch",
    "slug": "punch",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/former-el-rufai-ally-others-defect-to-apc-in-kaduna/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "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, who also served as a one-time Chief of Staff in the El-Rufai administration, led over 200,000 card-carrying members to the APC during a ceremony in Zaria. Sa’idu declared the ADC dead in the state, claiming the party was hijacked and teleguided by a family.\n\nThe defection included several other figures, such as former ADC gubernatorial aspirant Alhaji Jafaru Sani and former Commissioner of Finance Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, Daily Trust reports. Sa’idu noted that his group, the Kaduna De-Initiatives, had previously provided the party's structure from the ward to the state level.\n\nPremium Times reports that Kaduna State has 4,600,000 registered voters, with 96% having received voter cards. Following the defection of these allies, Uba Sani is reportedly targeting three million votes in Kaduna.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Daily Trust",
        "title": "El-Rufai’s Ex-Ally: ADC is dead in Kaduna",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/el-rufais-ex-ally-adc-is-dead-in-kaduna",
        "published": "2026-10-18T16:15:50.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Premium Times",
        "title": "2027: Uba Sani targets 3 million votes in Kaduna as top El-Rufai allies defect to APC",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/2027-uba-sani-targets-3-million-votes-in-kaduna-as-top-el-rufai",
        "published": "2026-10-18T16:26:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "Former El-Rufai ally, others defect to APC in Kaduna",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/former-el-rufai-ally-others-defect-to-apc-in-kaduna",
        "published": "2026-10-18T18:52:32.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}