Former Katsina State Governor, Barr Ibrahim Shema, has left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
Shema, 66, defected to the APC on Thursday evening and was presented with a membership card with serial number 26551, issued by the Shema Ward Executive of the APC at his hometown in Dutsinma Local Government Area.
The membership card, filled out by the state secretary of the APC, Suleiman Nanadi, was issued to the former governor at the Shema Ward Party office in Dutsinma by the state chairman of the APC, Sani Aliyu.
Jabirru Abdullahi, Chief of Staff to Governor Dikko Radda, received the membership card on behalf of the Katsina governor, who is to personally present it to the former governor.
Upon receiving the card, Tasuri said it was a momentous achievement for the APC to welcome such a prominent figure from the opposition, and that such development made a historic shift in the political landscape.
There are reports that the former governor and the incumbent had earlier met with President Bola Tinubu in Aso Rock, where Radda had informed Tinubu of the development.
Before his defection, the former governor had governed the state from 2007 to 2015, and had held key political positions at the state and national levels for the PDP.
At one time, he was the PDP Vice Chairman for the Northwest zone, and had been Attorney General and Justice Commissioner during the tenure of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, when he was state governor.
Radda, who expressed delight over Shema’s defection, described the development as a homecoming and a reunion with poltical family members.
The governor, in a statement, recalled that both Shema and the immediate past Governor, Aminu Masari, once served in various capacities under the leadership of the late former President Umaru Yar’adua.
Signed by his spokesperson, Ibrahim Mohammed, Radda said 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, reiterating that his doors are open to anyone willing to contribute to the state’s development.
During the card presentation at Dutsinma, the state chairman of the APC, Sani Aliyu commended governors Radda and Masari for their role in securing the defection of the influential figure, even as he pledged equal treatment for the former governor.
In a welcome address, the state secretary of the APC, Nanadi, said that having former governor Shema join the party further proves APC’s success and popularity.
