Bashir Ishaq Bashir, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Kano State, has reportedly defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after meeting its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Pictures and comments circulating social media confirmed Bashir met with Tinubu in Abuja on Sunday evening, February 12, and discussed plans to formally join the APC.
However it remains unclear if he would also abandon his gubernatorial ambition.
The meeting, as seen via pictures, was also attended by the chairman of the Labour Party presidential campaign council in Kano, Mohammed Zarewa, and some other party leaders from Kano.
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Though no official statement has been released Bashir’s defection, a close associate of Bashir told TheCable under anonymity, that the major reason for the defection was the “exclusion of major northern stakeholders in the decision-making process of the party’s campaign.”
The associate also said another reason for the defection was the “lack of clear direction on the interest of northern Nigeria.”
Bashir was said to have also met separately with the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima.
Recall that the LP governorship candidate alongside the chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council, Mohammed Zarewa; the state coordinator of Peter Obi’s campaign, Balarabe Wakili and a member of the presidential campaign council, Idris Dambazau had in January boycotted the party’s presidential rally held in Kano.
