All appear set for Senator Shehu Sani, social critic and former Senator, Kaduna Central, to join forces with the All Progressive Congress, APC.

Indications to this effect emerged on Monday, September 23, 2024, following the defection of his followers from the PDP to the APC.

It will be recalled that Senator Sani contested the 2023 gubernatorial ticket of the PDP, but lost at the the primary stage.

The decampees ,in their thousands from across the 23 local councils of the State, arrived the APC Campaign Office on Muhammadu Buhari way, singing and hailing the name and praises of the former Senator.

Clutching the portraits of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and that of Senator Sani, the decampees were received by some APC chieftains.

Spokesperson for the defectors, Monday Jaji, informed that their efforts in the last few months to convince Senator Sani about their position have, finally, yielded fruits.

According to him, they have finally convinced their leader on the need for them to return to the APC.

Jaji who was the Campaign Director to Sani during their sojourn in the Peoples Redemption Party PRP, noted that for two years, they have been pushing for their mentor and leader to defect to the APC due to his proven track record of performance while he held sway as a Senator between 2015 and 2019.

“When he was a Senator, Comrade Sani built seven hospitals across his constituency.

“He distributed over 200 transformers to communities, assisted the poor masses, and even bought a house for destitutes along Kano road, Kaduna.

Shehu Sani built a hospital in Chikun and built three in Igabi Local Government, Rigachikun and Giwa Local Councils”, Jaji stated.

One of the decampees informed that in a few weeks time, Senator Sani will be formally joining the APC.

However, while he will be crossing over from the PDP to APC, his arch political opponent and immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai will be heading in the opposite direction.

The Source reports that the political disagreement between the two in the countdown to the 2019 election forced Senator Sani out of the APC, as well as led to his replacement at the Senate with Ubah Sani now the State Governor.

An Impeccable source revealed that El-Rufai’s decision to join the PDP anytime soon is at the root of the Senator’s resolve to defect to the APC .

The Kaduna State APC Chairman, Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada (rtd ), while radiating happiness also expressed the optimism that the coming on board of the defectors will add value to the party in the State.

National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said the party would use its template in Edo State governorship election to win the November 16 election in Ondo State.

Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State, also said the party would use the same template to win Anambra currently under the control of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and other states in the South East in future elections.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja, while celebrating the victory of Senator Monday Okpebholo with members of the Edo state election situation room.

Ganduje said a big party like the APC ought to have been fully in charge of the South East geo-political zone, and urged party leaders at all levels to work hard towards actualising the party’s objectives.

“We have started working to develop strategies to win these states. Next year, Anambra state will follow. Let me remind you that we have a project which we named political demarginalisation of South East geo-political zone.

“That project is also a task that must be done. We will face South East zone with 5 states. We already have 2, but 2 is too small for a big party like ours. We will face that state and see how we can recover many states in our favour,” Ganduje said.

2027 will be walkover for APC – N/Central elders

Meanwhile, some elders of the APC from the North Central led by a former Senate President, Ameh Ebute, have expressed optimism that the 2027 general election would be a walkover for the party.

They spoke while on a visit to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Monday to congratulate Ganduje, on his victory at the High Court in a suit which sought his removal as chairman.

The suit was filed by the North Central APC Forum which sought the court to declare Ganduje’s chairmanship of the party as a breach of the provisions of Article 7(vii) and (ix) of the party’s constitution and the consensus reached at the 2022 National Convention held in Abuja, that the national chairman of the APC from 2022 to 2026 must be someone from the North Central geopolitical zone of the country.

Ebute said, “We feel we should be the first to come and congratulate you on your winning of the Edo governorship election for the party; for adding Edo to states controlled by the APC. We have no doubt in your ability to lead this party to a higher level.

“We are happy that the suit seeking your sack as national chairman was struck out. We are solidly behind you and we shall continue to support you to take the party to the next level. With these achievements, we believe 2027 will be a walk over.”

Similarly, a former presidential aspirant, Cesnabmilhilo Oken’oval who was part of the delegation said, “We are very happy with your leadership and we will continue to support you. 2027 election will be the greatest shock, we will cary it clear and clean.”

Speaking on his victory at the federal High Court, Abuja during the visit, Ganduje said, “There is no doubt that claim was baseless and was treated by the court as such. We don’t fear such baseless litigations.”

On Edo election, he said, “The election of Saturday is an indication that our efforts are yielding results.
Fighting an incumbent government is not easy.

The Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has reacted to the recently declared gubernatorial election result of Edo State.

This was communicated in a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity of the Ondo PDP Campaign Organisation, Ayo Fadaka.

The party noted that the results represented a “rape” on democracy in the country.

“The Edo State Governorship Election results represent another rape on democracy in Nigeria and for the umpteenth time, we declare that this is absolutely condemnable, as it betrays a total disregard for the electoral desires of the people as validly expressed through the ballot.”

The party stated that Nigerians are not fooled by the result declared by the INEC.

“Nigerians are not fooled by the officially declared result by INEC, they know that PDP won that election and this is a shame on those who sit atop our affairs.

It is disappointing that INEC could disregard the electoral law by shifting the collation of votes in the designated local government collation centres to its headquarters in Benin, this is expressly against the electoral law.”

In the statement, the party also alleged that the INEC had reduced the respect and status of Nigeria due to the act.

“In Ondo State, we have taken due cognizance of these dastardly acts committed by agencies saddled with the responsibilities to provide level playing grounds, and sadly failed to live up to expectations, it is a shameful act that lowers the status and respect due to Nigeria in the committee of nations.

“We need to underscore that we will not acquiesce or take kindly to any act geared towards compromising votes in our election.”

“We state emphatically for all to see and hear that Ondo is not Edo, our attitude, understanding and patience differ, we will vote and protect our vote here. We are resolved to give everything to ensure that the electoral desires of our people will command attention and attain the desired goals.

They warned that tampering with votes in Ondo State may lead to danger and violence.

“In Ondo State, we are already protesting against a Party, the APC and a government that has institutionalised hardship, penury and poverty and our protest day is the 16th of November.

“We thus sound a note of warning to those whose trade is the compromise of ballot that danger looms if they seek to tamper with our votes,” the statement stated.