Isaac Auta Zankai, the deputy speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, and Suleiman Dabo, the representative of Zaria state constituency in the state assembly, have both defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party.
Both lawmakers’ defections were made public on Thursday by Umar Farouk Ibrahim, the National Secretary of the Labour Party, and the Chairman of the Governorship Council. Ibrahim announced this while inaugurating the party’s 450-member governorship campaign council and reading out the manifesto of the party in the state.
Up until the defection, the Labour Party was believed to be making some inroads in the state, which has resulted in the mass defection of some grass-roots members of both the APC and the PDP into their fold.
Ibrahim welcomed both members into the party and said that half of the members of the Kaduna Assembly were disciples of the “Obidient” movement.
The deputy speaker, who is representing Kauru state constituency in the state assembly, is the biggest catch for the Labour Party, he noted.
Ibrahim added that the support received from important personalities in the state and even nationwide showed that the party was on the move to take over political power both in the state and at the federal level.
“Sincerely speaking, today is one of the happiest moments of my life. I have gone around to campaign for our presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and I have received great receptions.
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“I am particularly impressed by the calibre of personalities who grace this inauguration.In the entire northern states, we don’t have any personalities that dump APC and join the Labour Party except in Kaduna State with the Deputy Speaker and another member from Zaria State constituency,” he said.
Ibrahim pleaded with party members who had unsettled issues to resolve them and unite so that the party can take the mantle of political leadership in the state and help install the Obi-Datti movement in the presidential villa come May this year.
Jonathan Asake, the governorship candidate of the party in the state, was excited with the latest defections, expressed optimism, and urged members of the campaign council to take their membership as a “call to service” and work hard to change the narrative of the state and the country in general.
“This is a call to service because the mood in the nation is that the Labour Party must take over the nation. The mood of the nation is nothing other than the readiness of the youths to take over Kaduna and Nigeria so that the country will be a production nation and not a consuming nation.
“This is a divine movement, and God’s hand is in the movement. May peace come to Nigeria so that we may not experience hunger or kidnapping again,” Asake added.
