Ahead of the February 21, 2026, chairmanship election, the Legal Adviser of the Abaji Area Council chapter of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Ayuba Mailale, along with 287 members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), have defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the council.

The YPP chapter chairman, Alhaji Alhassan Suleiman, and the party's chairmanship candidate, Alhaji Mohammed Angulu Loko, received the defectors during a campaign rally in Gurdi ward of the council on Sunday.

Speaking during his defection, the former LP legal adviser, Mr. Ayuba Mailale, said his decision to leave LP for YPP was informed by the wide acceptability of the YPP chairmanship candidate across the rural communities of the council.

He also said that the YPP chairmanship candidate has a good track record from when he was first elected as chairman of Abaji between 2003 and 2006, adding that the YPP chairmanship candidate has executed projects that have impacted on the lives of the Gurdi community.

Also speaking on behalf of the APC defectors, Ismaila Abdullahi, said he and 287 members of the APC decided to pitch their tents with the YPP because of the failure of the local APC, a party which he said has failed to provide the desired dividends of democracy to the people.

The YPP chapter chairman in the area, Alhaji Alhassan Suleiman, commended the defectors for taking such a bold step in joining the YPP, while assuring them of equal treatment with other members of the party.