Exclusive: Real Reasons Why APC Rejected Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal ***Why PDP Members Are Abandoning Governor’s Party

By Fatima Bello

Fresh facts have emerged on why the All Progressives Congress (APC) outrightly rejected overtures from Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State to join its ranks.

The governor’s entry, they said would not favour the party’s prospects in the North-West ahead of the 2027 elections.

This firm stance comes amid a torrent of defections from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with key lawmakers, ward leaders, and even a gubernatorial-backed candidate abandoning ship, citing the governor’s performances in governance as the primary catalyst.

Sources close to the APC’s state and national leadership, speaking exclusively to Aljazirah on condition of anonymity, revealed that Governor Lawal’s repeated lobbying attempts – including an alleged high-stakes meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa earlier this week – were met with outright dismissal.

“Welcoming him would not only tarnish our image but also alienate our growing youth base.”

Also, the governor’s handling of the state’s security crisis  is seen as a perennial albatross in banditry-plagued Zamfara.

Despite campaign promises to eradicate banditry “within two months,” attacks have intensified, with military withdrawals from key bases.

As the APC fortifies its barriers, the PDP in Zamfara is hemorrhaging members at an alarming rate, with defections accelerating over the past fortnight.

The most high-profile exit came on Tuesday when Hon. Maharazu Salisu, representing Maradun II Constituency in the Zamfara State House of Assembly, led a mass crossover to the APC at the party’s Gusau secretariat.

Flanked by five PDP ward chairmen – including Ahmad Lawal of Gidan Goga Ward, Sanusi Ahmad Liman of Tsibiri Ward, and Lawal Mohammed of Kaya Ward – Salisu lambasted Lawal for “abandoning loyalists” and failing to deliver on core pledges like security and constituency projects.

“My constituents summoned me; they’ve seen no dividends of democracy under this PDP,” Salisu declared, vowing that his move signals the “end of Lawal’s grip on the assembly.”

Earlier, Hon. Maharazu Faru (Maradun II) cited “neglect and unfulfilled promises” in his jump to the APC, accompanied by hundreds of supporters.

Reports now swirl of seven more PDP lawmakers poised to follow, potentially slashing Lawal’s assembly allies to just four – a precarious minority that could trigger impeachment proceedings. ? ?

APC State Chairman Hon. Tukur Danfulani Maikatako hailed the influx as proof that “Zamfara will soon be entirely APC,” crediting ex-governors Bello Matawalle and Abdulaziz Yari for “shrinking the PDP through superior vision.”

Insiders paint a grimmer picture: Late-night huddles with wavering lawmakers reveal a governor in “panic mode,” desperate to stem the bleed before it erodes his re-election bid.

Other details emerging from our probe paint a state on the brink. The APC’s assembly dominance (now 13 seats to PDP’s 11) has stalled Lawal’s ?545 billion 2025 budget.

But sources close to the Governor said that he has no plans to join the APC and that he has all it takes to win second term election as a man of the people that has facilitated developments to the state.