…says ex-chairman left party months ago
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State, Hon. Hayatu Tafida Aminu, has faulted the defection of the party’s former state chairman, Muhammad Bello Aliyu Goronyo, to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying Goronyo had effectively left the PDP months before his formal resignation.
Goronyo resigned his membership of the PDP in a letter dated August 30, 2026, and was subsequently appointed Director-General of the campaign organisation of the ADC governorship candidate in Sokoto State, Manir Muhammad Dan’Iya.
Speaking to newsmen in his office on Tuesday, Aminu said Goronyo’s resignation was a formal confirmation of his activities outside the PDP over the preceding months.
According to him, Goronyo had been participating in ADC activities while still presenting himself as chairman of the PDP in the state.
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“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, as well as parading himself as the chairman of the PDP, which is not possible.”
Aminu said Goronyo’s appointment as campaign director-general of the ADC was consistent with his activities in the party over the past several months.
He said, “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, which is not possible.”
The PDP chairman also dismissed the argument by members of Goronyo’s camp that a previous court judgment did not categorically recognise one faction as the authentic leadership of the party in Sokoto State.
“That is their own argument and their own interpretation of the judgment,” Aminu said.
“But everybody has left. If they think they are authentic, why are they leaving the party? Why are they leaving the party?”
He argued that the movement of some prominent members associated with the faction to other political platforms indicated that they were no longer committed to the PDP.
Aminu, who acknowledged that Goronyo was previously his superior in the party, said their political relationship dated back several years.
“Unfortunately for the leadership of Bello, he was my boss actually, because I was in the PDP before under his leadership when we were together. All of us, I even contested under his leadership then,” he said.
He, however, rejected suggestions that the PDP would institute legal proceedings against Goronyo over his resignation or subsequent appointment by the ADC.
“We have not had and we do not intend taking any legal action against him or the other people of the so-called PDP,” Aminu said.
“We have been together for a very long time and it is now that we realised that they have been going in another direction.”
Aminu maintained that the PDP structure under his leadership remained the recognised structure of the party in the state, adding that the party had conducted its internal processes and submitted candidates for the 2027 elections.
He said Goronyo’s departure would not affect the party’s preparations for the elections.
“The PDP is one, under the leadership of Umaru Bature, who is our National Secretary, and I, Hayatu Tefida, as the chairman. We do not have any other faction of the PDP,” he said.
The development comes as political activities intensify in Sokoto ahead of the 2027 elections, with Goronyo’s defection to the ADC and appointment as Dan’Iya’s campaign DG adding to the political realignment in the state.