Senator Shehu Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi Quit APC

Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, has left the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Suleiman Hunkuyi, his counterpart from Kaduna North Senatorial District, has left the ruling party as well.

Tom Maiyashi, Chairman of the Akida faction and Ja’afaru Abas Ibrahim, legal adviser of the Restoration Group, announced the decision of the two groups at a joint press conference in Kaduna on Friday.

Senators Sani and Hunkuyi, who have been engaged in a long-running rivalry with Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of the state, belong to the ‘Akida’ and ‘Restoration Group’ factions of the party respectively.

“This joint press conference is the culmination of extensive reviews and consultations over the state of the All Progressives, Congress (APC) in Kaduna state as well as in the nation,” Maiyashi said.

“As you will appreciate, groups such as ours that had been on the frontline of the efforts to keep our party along the lines of survival, accountability and integrity, will be diligent in ensuring that whatever steps we take, are consistent with our high sense of responsibility.

“We are satisfied that the positions we have arrived at are in the best interests of our members and the ongoing efforts to create options and strategies that will rid our nation of undeserved and avoidable challenges.

“Members of our two groups have decided to leave the APC because it is incapable of accommodating and responding to well-meaning dissent, criticism and demands for inclusiveness and internal democracy.”

The two groups advised their teeming members to formalise their withdrawal from the APC.

Maiyasshi did not disclose the party to be joined by the two groups, but he confirmed that discussions were going on with “political parties that share their values and principles”.

“We want to commend the resilience and commitment of our members in the face of institutionalised exclusion, marginalisation and abuse. We urge them all to keep faith,” he said.