2027: Sokoto PDP chair dismisses ex-chair’s defection to ADC

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State, Hon. Hayatu Tafida Aminu

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Sokoto State, Hayatu Tafida Aminu, has dismissed the defection of the former state chairman, Muhammad Bello Aliyu Goronyo, to the African Democratic Congress, describing the development as “not a surprise.”

Goronyo resigned from the PDP on August 30, 2026, and was appointed Director-General of the campaign organisation of the ADC governorship candidate, Manir Muhammad Dan’Iya, barely hours later.

Speaking with newsmen in his office on Tuesday, Aminu alleged that Goronyo had abandoned the PDP months before his formal resignation, accusing him of operating as an ADC member while still occupying the position of PDP chairman.

“Bello Goronyo was the former chairman of the PDP, but he left the party about nine months ago because, in the Nigerian context, he cannot be in two parties at the same time,” Aminu said.

“He was acting as a de facto member of ADC while also parading himself as chairman of the PDP, which is not possible.”

The PDP chairman said Goronyo’s appointment as the ADC campaign DG merely formalised what he described as an existing political relationship between the former PDP chairman and the opposition party.

“Goronyo has always been a loyal party member on their side of the ADC, but in disguise, because he attends ADC activities as well as parading himself as the party chairman of the PDP,” he alleged.

Aminu also declared that the prolonged factional crisis in the Sokoto PDP had been resolved, insisting that his leadership controlled the authentic structure of the party in the state.

He said the party had rebuilt its structures from the ward level, conducted internal elections and subsequently produced candidates for the 2027 elections.

According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission had uploaded the candidates produced by his faction, which he said demonstrated that the electoral body recognised his faction.

“Fortunately enough, INEC uploaded our candidates as the authentic members of the PDP and contestants. Everybody could see it at the INEC offices,” he said.

Aminu dismissed claims by Goronyo’s faction that a court judgment failed to recognise either of the competing groups as the authentic PDP structure in the state.

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“That is their own argument and their own interpretation of the judgment,” he said.

“But if they think they are authentic, why is he leaving the party? Why are they leaving the party?”

He further pointed to the movement of other prominent members linked to the rival faction to different political platforms, arguing that their actions amounted to an admission that they had abandoned the PDP.

Despite the increasingly heated political exchange, Aminu said the PDP would not institute legal proceedings against Goronyo over his resignation or subsequent appointment by the ADC.

“We do not intend taking any legal action against him or the other people of the so-called PDP,” he said.

The chairman, however, acknowledged Goronyo’s past influence on his political career, describing the former chairman as his former boss.

“He was my boss actually. I was in the PDP before under his leadership of the PDP, when we were together. All of us, I even contested under his leadership then,” Aminu said.

Aminu insisted that Goronyo’s departure would not weaken the PDP ahead of the 2027 elections, declaring that the party remained united under his leadership.

“The PDP is one, under the leadership of Umaru Bature, who is our National Secretary, and I, Hayatu Tafida, as the chairman. We do not have any other faction of the PDP,” he said.

Goronyo’s resignation and his immediate emergence as Dan’Iya’s campaign DG have added to the political realignment ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Sokoto State.

The development could further reshape the contest as political parties seek to consolidate their structures and attract influential figures ahead of the election.