Nine members of the Kano State House of Assembly elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have defected to the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP).
NNPP is the new party of Senator Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor of the state.
The spokesperson of the Assembly, Uba Abdullahi, announced this in a statement he issued on Friday.
He said the members have sent a letter to the Speaker of the House notifying the House of their defection.
According him, some of the members cited a leadership tussle in the PDP at state and national levels for their action.
The affected members include Isyaku Ali Danja (Gezawa Constituency), Umar Musa Gama (Nassarawa Constituency), Aminu Sa’adu Ungogo (Ungogo Constituency), Lawan Hussain Chediyar ‘Yan Gurasa (Dala Constituency) and Tukur Muhammad (Fagge Constituency).
The others are Mu’azzam El-Yakub (Dawakin Kudu Constituency), Garba Shehu Fammar (Kibiya Constituency), Abubakar Uba Galadima (Bebeji Constituency) and Mudassir Ibrahim Zawaciki (Kumbotso Constituency).
Earlier on April 29, the House announced the defection of a member representing Kano Municipal, Salisu Gwangwazo, from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), also citing an internal crisis in the main opposition party.
However, the latest defections are widely seen to be connected to the movement of Kwankwaso, from the PDP to the NNPP.
Mr Kwankwaso moved to the NNPP earlier this year and is expected to run for president on the ticket of the party.
His defection has triggered the mass defection of his followers from the PDP to the NNPP where some of them have taken party positions ahead of the party’s primaries.