Vice President Kashim Shettima will be in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on 30 October to receive a new set of decampees from the opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), according to its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.
On Saturday in Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen; and Yilwatda led thousands of party faithful at a grand rally held at the Murtala Square, Kaduna, to welcome another set of defectors from opposition parties into the APC.
On the same day in Kano, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Farouk Lawan joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his ward.
During an APC Strategic Stakeholders meeting, which held at the Crest Hotel Conference Hall in the Plateau State capital on Saturday, Yilwatda said that the Vice President had already given his consent to 30 October reception.
He said: ‘We welcomed Mr President about two weeks ago, and now we are going to welcome the Vice President.
‘Yesterday (Friday), I spoke with the governors under the Plateau of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, about the forthcoming event, and a good number of them said they are well prepared to be on the platform’.
He said that Abbas had also agreed to be part of the reception ceremony, adding: ‘So we’re going to have a full house again, back on the platform.
‘So the same atmosphere we created during the burial of my mother will repeat itself.
‘We will test the mic, we will increase the volume, we will increase the dancing steps.
‘Consequent upon that, our elder, Architect P. D. Gyang, will chair the central planning committee for receiving all the decampees to APC’.
He said there were many activities in the offing to keep party vibrant, keep the decampees in the news and keep them active.
‘We just finished the medical outreach. The team from United States left today, but we have some local doctors that will sustain it until part of next week’, he said, adding that a new programme would be unveiled by Monday.
He also said that the trend of launching new programmes would continue until the 2027 elections.
‘The programme that we plan to do next week is to give N100 million business challenge to the youths, SMEs.
‘So we still expect a team to be constituted; people who will be saddled with the responsibility of receiving the submissions of those that l will be selected’, Yilwatda further said.
He said that, with regard to youth empowerment, there would be people that will get one million naira, those who would get N500,000 and others who would get N250,000 to boost their existing businesses.
Saturday’s Kaduna’s event, described by party leaders as a ‘renewal of unity and victory’, saw the formal defection of several lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties to the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The rally drew a mammoth crowd of supporters, government officials, members of the National and state assemblies, and key political figures from across the state.
The entire Murtala Square was adorned with party colours as supporters chanted victory songs and waved banners celebrating what many described as a ‘political landslide’.
Among the decampees were members representing Sabon Gari, Igabi, Kaduna South, and Ikara/Kubau Federal Constituencies, as well as several former senators, local government chairmen, and political heavyweights from the PDP and New Nigeria People’s Party.
Visibly delighted, Sani said that the growing number of decampees was a reflection of public confidence in the APC’s inclusive leadership and people-centered governance model.
He assured new members that the APC in the state operates as a single family without discrimination, stressing that old and new members would enjoy equal opportunities and privileges.
Sani declared: ‘In APC Kaduna, we are one family. We don’t discriminate. Everyone has the same privilege and the same opportunity.
‘Our focus has always been justice, fairness, and inclusivity. Kaduna is the most diverse state in Nigeria, and we have used our diversity as our strength’.
He added that since his administration came on board, Kaduna has enjoyed relative peace and harmony, noting that the absence of ethno-religious conflict in the past year is a testament to the government’s commitment to equity and inclusiveness.
‘Since we came in, there has not been a single ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna State. We are working as one family, and that is the kind of politics that brings development’, he said.
The governor also used the occasion to recognise some prominent figures who recently joined the APC, including former Governor Ramalan Yero, Senator Shehu Sani, Senator Andrew Makarfi Malar, and Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, among others.
He however assured the new entrants that the APC will continue to deliver on its promises of fairness, equity, and good governance, saying, ‘our goal is not politics for power, but politics for the people. Kaduna APC is united, stronger, and ready for the future’.
Tajudeen commended the governor for his leadership style, which he said has repositioned Kaduna as a model of unity and progress in Northern Nigeria.
He said the large turnout at the rally shows that the people of Kaduna are solidly behind the APC’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
