President Tinubu Meets Kano Governor Yusuf Abba

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf yesterday. The meeting took place in the President’s office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Daily Trust reports that the Kano Governor dressed in white Agbada and red cap entered the villa at about 4:10 pm.

Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the meeting via his Facebook page.

According to Onanuga: “President Tinubu in talks with Governor Abba Yusuf.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, after a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.”

There have been speculations over the planned defection of the governor from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

However, reports have been rife that negotiations have stalled over whether or not to give the governor automatic 2027 ticket.

The governor’s planned defection has been in the news for weeks, causing disaffection between supporters of the Governor and his political godfather Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

The governor’s visit to the Villa is his first known audience with President Tinubu since returning from Abu Dhabi, where the President attended the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Sources familiar with the negotiations had earlier told The PUNCH that the defection stalled because the APC leadership refused to grant Yusuf’s demand for a documented assurance of an automatic gubernatorial ticket for the 2027 elections.

The governor is also reportedly seeking the right to nominate a minister to represent Kano State in the Federal Executive Council and the authority to replace Kano-based federal appointees with his loyalists.