Shema dumps PDP, picks APC membership card

A former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, on Thursday dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and pitched tent with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). 

 He was presented with a membership card by the Shema Ward Executive of the APC in Dutsinma Local Government of Katsina State.

 Daily Trust reports that the former governor’s overtures with the APC began to manifest in the build-up to the 2023 elections when his party in Katsina State got entangled in a seemingly irreconcilable internal crisis.

 Consequently, the party split into two factions, each with its chairman and other party executives.

 The crisis in the state chapter of the party became worse following the controversial ouster of its then state chairman, Alhaji Yusuf Salisu Majigiri and the resultant alleged suspension of the governorship candidate, Sen. Yakubu Lado Danmarke, from the contest.

 In a statement yesterday, the Chief Press Secretary to Katsina governor, Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed, quoted the governor as describing Shema’s defection to the APC as homecoming and a reunion with political family members.

 The governor recalled that both Shema and the immediate past governor, Aminu Bello Masari, once served under the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, explaining that though the two leaders were once separated by certain circumstances and individual goals, they are now back on the same side.

 The governor called on other patriotic citizens of the state to join hands in repositioning the state for greatness, stressing that his doors are open to anyone willing to contribute to the development of the state.

 The state chairman of the APC, Alhaji Sani Aliyu Daura, commended Governor Radda and his predecessor, Masari, for their role in ensuring Shema’s defection to the APC and assured the former governor of equal treatment with old members of the party.