The immediate past Secretary to the Katsina State Government (SSG) under the incumbent Governor Aminu Bello Masari, Dr Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, has announced his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Inuwa is also a former Commissioner for Education and one of the political bigwigs in the state.
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He announced his defection yesterday at his campaign office in Katsina after meeting with hundreds of his supporters and groups who kept chanting songs of solidarity about his capacity and ability to shape the politics of the state.
Inuwa said his decision to leave APC with the large crowd of his supporters was premised on his desire to remain relevant in the political equation of the state.
He had contested for the Katsina APC governorship ticket but lost to Dr Dikko Umar Radda.
Multiple sources in the state political circle told our correspondent yesterday that his exit from the APC might affect the fortunes of the party in the next election in the state considering the number and calibre of his supporters who defected with him to the PDP.
Recall that preparatory to the 2015 elections, Dr Inuwa was the state chairman of the APC and played key roles that led to the party’s victory in the state.
He was equally the SSG from 2015 to early this year when he resigned to contest the governorship ticket of the party.
Dr Inuwa was said to have played a key role in the recently held local government elections in the state where some members of the party in the state gave him the name “king maker.”
Daily Trust had reported how the Inuwa/Dikko crisis hit the party and how that could change the political calculations in the state.
Analysts say Inuwa’s defection could therefore be a heavy blow to the APC and a catalyst for the PDP’s victory in Katsina in 2023.
Shortly after the primary, Dr Inuwa addressed a press conference where he pledged support to the winner, Dr Radda.
But things began to fall apart when supporters of the two camps began to trade accusations.
Apart from the top shots of the state’s PDP and NNPP, others who visited Inuwa are the APC and Labour Party (LP) vice presidential candidates, Senators Kashim Shetima and Datti Baba Ahmed respectively.
He eventually decided to rejoin his old home, the PDP, which he left before the 2015 general elections for the then-opposition APC.
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