The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, on Friday, received hundreds of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s support groups in the 2023 general elections across the 19 Northern states.

The Coalition of Atiku Abubakar Support Groups announced their defection from the PDP to the APC at the A-Class Event Centre, Abuja.

Leaders of the support groups from the North West, North Central and North East – Malami Nasidi, Musa Yahaya and Kabiru Gambo – who spoke at the event pledged to work for the success of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking at the event, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I Jibrin, described the defection of the Atiku supporters in the North as a big catch for the APC.

• Lakurawa Kingpin, Maigemu killed in Kebbi
• Court fixes May 8 for ruling on Yahaya Bello’s children fees

“It’s a big catch. We are making a big catch today at our party. Mr. President is a very good man. He is doing his best to reposition Nigeria. So it will be turned into a land of prosperity. And it’s good that you understood that and have come to acknowledge what Mr. President is doing.

“It is good that you are teaming up with Mr President so that he will succeed in his effort to change our development trajectory and make this country a land of El Dorado. This is a very good development. Today, we are happy you are joining the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu family.

” You are joining the APC family because it’s a family that cherishes hard work. And for us, we do not discriminate. Whoever comes into the party today has the same privileges, the same latitude to operate like someone who has stayed for years.

“The only difference is your hard work. What have you been able to do at the party? So if you do better if you do well, you will even be recognised more than someone who has been around since the party’s inception,” Senator Barau said.

He commended Ganduje for leading the party to victory in various off-season governorship elections, saying since Ganduje became chairman, APC has been winning elections back to back.

Speaking at the occasion, the National Chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, hailed the defection of Atiku’s supporters, describing Senator Barau, who facilitated it, as a real general.

“You are welcome to our party. We are formally receiving you now. But as I have been informed, after the fasting period, all your members will gather here in Abuja, under the leadership of the Distinguished Senator Barau, so that we invite Mr President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President himself, where we will have the Senate President and the Right Honorable Speaker, to formally receive all your members to register the death, the collapse, the disappearance of the PDP in Nigeria, not only in the northern part of this country.

“We are the greatest beneficiary of the crumbling party. So we welcome you honestly. We welcome you to a party with a progressive ideology. To a party that believes in the rule of law. To the party that believes in internal democracy. To the party that believes in engagement. To the party that says no discrimination.

“We are the most peaceful party in Nigeria—the most peaceful party in Africa. Because we believe in internal democracy, ” he said.