The two All Progressives Congress senators from Kaduna State, Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna-North) and Shehu Sani (Kaduna-Central), have said that they are still in the ruling party but will dump it soon.
Hunkuyi and Sani, who belong to the breakaway faction of the APC named ‘Reformed APC,’ said they would notify the public about their defection.
There were reports on Friday that the two lawmakers, who were leading a faction of the APC in Kaduna, had dumped the party but had yet to join any other.
Denying the reports in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Hunkuyi said, “I have not left yet, but I will leave.”
The lawmaker stated that he belonged to the R-APC and not the factional APC Akida in Kaduna.
“I am not a member of Akida and they don’t have any party chairman in Akida; no they don’t. What we have is the R-APC Chairman, Col. Dauda Gora (retd.), and he is not a member of Akida. I am still in the APC,” he said.
Asked when he along with his loyalists would carry out their defection threat, he said, “I am holding that to my chest but I will make it known in due course, even if it is a day notice. Shehu Sani too has not (left the APC); we are leaving at the same time.”
Also, Sani told our correspondent that his group (same with Hunkuyi’s) was in reconciliatory talks with the APC as well as the Peoples Democratic Party and other parties lobbying them.
He said, “We are talking with both parties and the others who want us to defect to their parties. Discussions and consultations are ongoing between us and the APC, and between us and the parties who want us to defect.”
Asked if the group would remain in the R-APC pending the conclusion of the talks, Sani laughed, saying, “Whatever you say.”
The senator later issued a statement in which he said he would make his defection from the APC to another party formal and that he would announce the move on his social media platforms.
It read, “I’ve yet to defect or defect from the APC to any other party. However, discussions and consultations are ongoing as regards to our future in the party. Decision will be taken in a matter of a week or two on whether to remain in the party or migrate. And when the time comes, I’ll make a formal announcement on the floor of the Senate and my Facebook and Twitter handle.”
Sani also posted on his Facebook page, “Clarification: I’ve yet to leave the Broomcity FC for the Umbrella United or any other club in the Premier League. Discussions and consultations are ongoing. If such will happen, it will be backed by a signed formal letter to the ‘club management’; and a formal announcement on the side of the pitch by myself.”
Earlier, two factional groups in the APC in Kaduna – APC Akida and APC Restoration – had announced the defection of the members of the groups.
Tom Maiyashim represented the APC Akida as the Chairman, while the Legal Adviser of APC Restoration, Jaafaru Abbas Ibrahim, represented his group.
Maiyashim, who spoke on behalf of the two senators and other group members, said they were leaving the ruling party because it lacked internal democracy in the state and at the national level.
When asked whether the defection included the two senators, Maiyashim had said, “We are speaking on behalf of all our members, which include the senators in both the APC Akida and APC Restoration.”
