More than 60,000 members and supporters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Jega Local Government Area of Kebbi State have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defectors were received by Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi on Monday, according to a statement signed by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yahaya Sarki.

Speaking on behalf of the group, former ADC Coordinator in Jega LGA and former House of Representatives aspirant for the Aliero/Gwandu/Jega Federal Constituency, Alhaji Aminu Mustapha, said they decided to leave the ADC because of what they described as the achievements of Governor Idris and the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said, “Our decision to join the APC was informed by the remarkable achievements of Governor Nasir Idris and the purposeful leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Mustapha added that the APC had shown commitment to the welfare of Nigerians and remained a party with strong grassroots support across the country.

Other representatives of the defectors also praised the governor’s leadership and development projects. They pledged their loyalty to the APC and promised to support the party.

In his response, Governor Idris thanked the new members for joining the APC and assured them they would be treated equally with existing party members.

He said “they would enjoy the same rights, opportunities, and privileges as every other APC member,” while urging them to remain united and work towards the party’s success in the 2027 general elections.

The governor also highlighted his administration’s achievements in education, healthcare, agriculture, water supply, rural development, road construction, and youth and women empowerment. He said his government would continue to provide the dividends of democracy to the people of Kebbi State.

The event was attended by the acting APC state chairman, members of the State Executive Council, party leaders, and other stakeholders.

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has described reports that more than 17 million Nigerians, including infants and young children, are facing acute hunger as a growing humanitarian disaster created by the President Bola Tinubu administration’s incompetence, misplaced priorities and failed policies.

ADC’s spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi said Nigerians are dying of starvation under his administration.

He was reacting to a United Nations World Food Programme, WFP, report showing that more than 17 million Nigerians across nine conflict-affected northern states are facing acute hunger.

A statement signed by Abdullahi, condemned the Tinubu-led APC Federal Government for what it described as its “cruel indifference” to the growing humanitarian crisis brought about principally by its failure to contain the banditry and terrorism that has displaced farming communities, as well as the harsh economic policies that have pushed food beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians.

The full statement read: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has received with profound concern the latest assessment by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which confirms that Nigeria is now facing one of its worst food security emergencies in almost a decade.”

“According to the WFP, more than 17 million Nigerians across nine conflict-affected northern states are now facing Crisis, Emergency or Catastrophic levels of food insecurity.”

“This represents an increase of almost two million people from previous projections. In Borno State alone, more than three million people are acutely food insecure, while the combined figure for Borno, Adamawa and Yobe has risen to 6.2 million people.

“These are not opposition figures. They are not campaign slogans. They are the findings of the world’s leading humanitarian agency on hunger.

“In other words, the hunger confronting millions of Nigerians today is not a natural disaster. It is an APC-inspired government-created humanitarian disaster.

“This humanitarian crisis is also the predictable outcome of a government that has failed to secure Nigerian lives, failed to protect Nigerian farmers and failed to address the cost-of-living crisis that it has created.

“For three years, the Tinubu government has repeatedly told Nigerians that the pain that we experiencing is temporary. The WFP has now confirmed what Nigerians have been saying all along: insecurity is spreading, agricultural production is declining, food inflation is worsening and millions of us, the Nigerian people, are being pushed deeper into hunger.”

Former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, has alleged that the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, wants to divide Nigeria.

Sheriff made this allegation on Monday when he appeared as a guest in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.

He was reacting to the Obi’s call that President Bola Tinubu should resign over security and economic situations facing the country.

According to him: “Peter Obi, up to this moment, is pursuing the division of Nigeria because he believes in Biafra.

“He never condemns Biafra or IPOB, as he wants to divide Nigeria. He should come out and say if he doesn’t believe in the division of the country.

“Anybody aspiring to lead Nigeria must be someone who stands for Nigeria, not for any section.”