Barring last minute changes, a former Kano governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, will formally announce his formal defection from the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, on being enticed into the biggest opposition party by the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Mr Shekarau, representing Kano Central at the Senate, had officially disclosed his defection from the ruling APC to NNPP in a letter read during the plenaries by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on 29th June.
Despite being lucky to get the automatisenatorial ticket of NNPP, Reference Daily News found out that Shekarau secretly sneaked into Lagos on 24th June for a meeting with the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, who was at the same time lobbying him to be his running-mate.
The discussion with the flag-bearer of the Labour Party did not yield good fruits, as the NNPP and the All Progressives Congress continues to expedite actions to get the erstwhile governor back to their fold.
On the leaders of the NNPP getting wind of the secret plan of Mr Shekarau to defect to the PDP, they commissioned a 3-man panel comprising the candidate of the party for the governorship, Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Kano South Senatorial Candidate of the party, Kawu Sumaila including the candidate of the party for House of Representatives, Kabiru Rurum, to see Shekarau in Abuja on Friday night but he never agreed to see them.
Sources aware of the clandestine moves of Shekarau, including his separate meetings with the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Okowa, his running-mate and Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chair, said the erstwhile governor had struck an irreversible deal with the PDP and will be announcing his defection soon.
Reference Daily News gathers that a 21-member panel will be meeting on Tuesday in Abuja. This is to finally conclude plans on how to manage public criticisms that may greet Shekarau’s regular defections.
A source aware of the meeting said as part of his exit plans from the NNPP, the presidential candidate of the PDP will be paying a personal visit to Shekarau to woo him before the announcement is formally made.
“The truth is that Atiku has made some mouth-watering offers such as ministerial and parastatal slots to Mallam. This is in addition to appointing him as the North West campaign coordinator and in charge of campaign finances in the region,” said the insider.
Another source who shares a close relationship with Shekarau said the erstwhile governor has decided to let go his senatorial slot owing to the fact that the NNPP could not accommodate his associates.
“The NNPP only offered the senatorial ticket to Shekarau without giving any ticket to Mallam’s associates. So there is deep resentment in among Shekarau’s associates who felt that Mallam only negotiated his senatorial slot alone and did not make efforts for them,” said the source.
Mr Shekarau’s spokesman, Sule Yau Sule, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.
