President Bola Tinubu has formally handed over Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, for official integration into the ruling party.
Governor Kefas revealed the development on Thursday during a meeting with APC youths and stakeholders at the T.Y. Danjuma House in Abuja, stating that the President had acknowledged his defection plan and approved his move from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
He disclosed that preparations were in top gear for his formal unveiling as an APC member in Taraba State.
Comrade Abubakar Gembo, who attended the meeting, said the governor’s defection would be a major political boost for the APC in the state. “Governor Kefas told us he had met with President Tinubu, who received him and handed him over to the national chairman,” Gembo said.
Idris Ayuba, Chairman of the APC Youth Vanguard in Taraba, also confirmed that the defection process had been completed at the national level and was now awaiting a formal reception at the state and local levels.
He praised Kefas as a youth-friendly leader who has consistently prioritised empowerment and inclusion, urging party members to rally behind him.
The Taraba APC Youth Vanguard’s Publicity Secretary, Rikwense Muri, in a statement, added that the governor met with youth leaders and APC influencers to build a united political front for the transformation of the state through stronger collaboration with the federal government.
Governor Kefas said his decision to join the APC was guided by the need to “put Taraba first,” stressing that the state must not remain isolated from national politics.
“Our state must take its rightful place in national development, and that can only happen when we work hand in hand with the centre,” he said.
Kefas, who was elected governor in 2023 under the PDP, is set to end the party’s 26-year rule in Taraba State since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.
