DEPUTY Minority Whip of the Senate, Rufai Hanga (NNPP, Kano Central), has warned that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is headed for an internal crisis and eventual collapse, insisting that the recent wave of defections into the party is driven by personal interests rather than popular support.

During an interview, Hanga dismissed concerns that defections from opposition parties — particularly in Kano State — have weakened the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), describing the movement of political office holders into the APC as superficial and unsustainable.
“APC’s ship will sink because it is overloaded,” Hanga said, adding, “I am speaking from experience. Let us wait until Congress and conventions begin. That is when the real trouble will start. You will see cracks, confusion, and internal battles.”

The senator argued that most defectors are political appointees and officeholders whose loyalty is tied to access to power and resources, not to grassroots support.
According to him, the mass movement of governors, commissioners, and local government chairmen into the APC does not translate into electoral strength. “They are moving alone, not with the people,” he said, noting, “Many of them never won primaries. They were handpicked through consensus.

When real internal democracy begins, many of them will not survive.”
Hanga, who represents Kano Central, said the political strength of Kano remains firmly with the electorate and not with defecting elites. He described the Kwankwasiyya movement as a mass-based political force that cannot be dismantled by defections.

To underscore his point, the lawmaker cited a recent solidarity mobilisation around former Kano governor and NNPP leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, following the defection of the current governor.
HOWEVER, former National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hajiya Mariya Waziri, has defected to the APC in Kebbi State.
She was received yesterday by Governor Nasir Idris at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi.

Waziri defected alongside the PDP Women Leader in the state and other party executives.
Addressing a large gathering of women supporters, Waziri said her decision to join the APC was informed by what she described as the impressive developmental projects being executed by the Idris administration across the state.

She explained that after touring various parts of the state, she became convinced that the APC-led government was delivering meaningful progress.
Responding, the governor described Waziri as a committed and development-oriented leader who has consistently supported women in the state.