Kwankwaso Declares January 23 ‘World Betrayal Day’ After Yusuf’s Defection
The national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has announced that the Kwankwasiyya movement will henceforth observe January 23 as “World Betrayal Day.”
Kwankwaso made the declaration on Saturday while addressing supporters at his residence in Kano, following the defection of Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, from the NNPP.
Speaking in Hausa, the former Kano State governor said the idea originated from discussions on social media centred on betrayal, adding that he had decided to formally adopt the date as a symbolic day for members of the Kwankwasiyya movement who, in his view, had been betrayed.
“I saw several discussions on social media about betrayal,” Kwankwaso said. “One particular post suggested that January 23 should be declared World Betrayal Day. As the leader of this movement, I have accepted that idea, and we will now be marking January 23 as Betrayal Day everywhere.”
Governor Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP on Friday, January 23, the party on whose platform he was elected in 2023. His defection was accompanied by 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives, and all 44 local government chairmen in the state.
In his resignation letter, Yusuf cited deepening internal crises and prolonged leadership disputes within the NNPP as the reasons for his decision to leave the party.
The development came days after the governor paid a visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, a move that heightened speculation about his political alignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.
