More facts have continued to emerge on why Dr Rabi’u Sulaiman Bichi, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State and top loyalist of Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bichi, a former secretary to the state government during Kwankwaso’s administration, Daily Trust gathered, is set to formally declare his defection to APC, the ruling party in the state.
A source close to Bichi told Daily Trust in confidence that Dr Bichi was expected to announce his departure from the major opposition party and Kwankwasiyya yesterday night at a special reception to be held at Kano State government house.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, our correspondent gathered would receive Bichi into the APC.
It was gathered that Bichi has been under intense pressure from members of the Kwankwasiyya movement since the PDP was defeated at the March 9 and 23, 2019 gubernatorial elections in the state.
“Bichi was accused of working for Ganduje and since then he has not been carried along in most of the activities of the Kwankwasiyya movement,” the source said.
Efforts to speak with Bichi through his mobile phone yielded no result yesterday as he neither picked nor replied text message sent to him.
However when contacted, secretary of PDP in the state, Alhaji Shehu Wada Sagagi, confirmed the move, saying the exit of Bichi from the PDP will cause no harm.
“Of course, Dr Bichi has personally informed me about his intention of leaving the PDP, but officially he has not written to the party. So, the PDP as a party is waiting for the chairman to write officially,” he said.
Meanwhile, the vice chairman of the APC in the state, Shehu Maigari, said Bichi and his followers would be received into the APC today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday) by the governor and the APC leadership.
“We have anticipated Bichi’s defection because the man has been at loggerheads with Kwankwaso for a very long time. He was only managing his stay in PDP and Kwankwasiyya.
“Kwankwaso always wanted to have somebody that he can control and Bichi is not that type of person. So, I can assure you, not only Bichi and his teeming supporters, more of Kwankwasiyya members would soon join APC. Many people are not comfortable staying in the Kwankwasiyya,” he said.
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