KANO, NIGERIA – The political landscape of Kano State has witnessed another significant realignment following the defection of Hon. Abdulmajid Isa Umar Mai Rigar Fata, the lawmaker representing Gwale Constituency in the State House of Assembly. The influential legislator officially dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to pitch his tent with the fast-rising Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
The defection carries substantial political weight given that Hon. Mai Rigar Fata represents Gwale Local Government Area, which is the immediate ancestral hometown and political stronghold of the incumbent Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The lawmaker, along with his core political strategists, was officially received into the NDC fold on Thursday evening by the former Governor of Kano State and national leader of the party, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, at his high-profile Maitama residence in Abuja.
Senator Kwankwaso, widely acknowledged as the grand commander of the Kwankwasiyya political movement and one of the most powerful political kingmakers in northern Nigeria, expressed immense satisfaction with the development. He described the arrival of the Gwale representative as a major strategic harvest and a tremendous boost to the NDC’s grassroots mobilization efforts across the state ahead of future electoral contests.
Hon. Mai Rigar Fata's journey through the state's legislative politics has been marked by strategic cross-carpeting. He was initially elected into the Kano State House of Assembly during the 2023 general elections on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which was then controlled by Senator Kwankwaso.
However, following a series of internal crises and shifting alliances, the lawmaker, alongside Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and several other top-tier political actors, defected from the NNPP to join the All Progressives Congress.
Insiders within the Kano political space reveal that this latest structural U-turn by the lawmaker was triggered by deep-seated internal friction during the APC's recent legislative primaries. Sources confirm that Hon. Mai Rigar Fata was unable to secure the APC's ticket to return to the Assembly for another term, as the party machinery favored a rival aspirant, leaving the incumbent with no choice but to seek an alternative political platform to keep his legislative ambitions alive.
The lawmaker did not move alone. A substantial faction of the local political elite from the governor's hometown joined him in the mass exit. Among the notable figures who officially embraced the NDC on Thursday were the former Vice Chairman of Gwale Local Government Area, Hon. Kabiru Sani Auwal Obi, alongside another prominent grassroots mobilizer, Mahadi Isa Umar.
The timing of this high-profile defection is directly linked to a landmark legal development. The mass cross-carpeting occurred barely hours after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja delivered a crucial judgment on Thursday, which reportedly relaxed the stringent administrative restrictions previously imposed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on mid-term political defections for elected officials.
The court's decision has effectively opened the floodgates for disgruntled politicians who lost out in recent primary elections across various states to jump ship without the immediate threat of losing their legislative seats.
Reacting swiftly to the court's pronouncement and the unfolding drama in Kano, the National Spokesman of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, issued a stern warning to the ruling party. He noted that the APC's internal handling of its primaries, combined with the new judicial reality, has created a volatile environment.
"The APC has managed its internal democratic processes with a high level of exclusion, and with this new court judgment, the party should brace itself because it will soon witness an unprecedented wave of defections across the country," Abdullahi cautioned.
As Kano State adapts to this latest political shockwave, analysts suggest that the loss of the lawmaker representing the Governor's own local government area is a symbolic blow to the APC's unity in the state, signaling a fierce battle ahead for the control of the ancient commercial center.
