A senior figure in the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, has expressed confidence that the party will win the 2027 Kano State governorship election, whether or not Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf remains in the party or defects to the ruling All Progressives Congress APC.
Johnson made the remarks amid renewed speculation about the governor’s political future following his recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu, which has intensified rumours of a possible defection.
Speaking on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television programme The Morning Brief, Johnson said the NNPP has consistently shown strong electoral capacity in Kano State, even when it lacked control of government structures.
He recalled the 2019 general election, noting that although the party had no sitting governor or lawmakers at the time, it believed it had won the Kano governorship election before the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC declared the contest inconclusive, a development that eventually paved the way for Abdullahi Ganduje’s re election.
According to him, a similar pattern occurred in 2023 when the NNPP again confronted the APC in Kano.
Johnson maintained that Governor Yusuf was fully aware that he won the election, despite the party not enjoying the benefits of incumbency.
He further stressed that the NNPP achieved its success without grassroots office holders such as councillors or other local officials, yet still secured most of the seats.
He said the party was not unsettled by discussions around the governor’s possible departure ahead of the next election cycle.
Johnson expressed firm belief that the NNPP would retain Kano in 2027, with or without Yusuf in its ranks, describing his confidence not as arrogance but as a realistic reading of the political dynamics in the state.
