Muhammad Abacha

By Sabiu Abdullahi

The Kano State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has adopted Muhammad Sani Abacha as its governorship candidate for the 2027 election after Muhammad Bello Dalhatu withdrew from the race.

The decision was reached at an expanded meeting of the party’s State Executive Committee in Kano on Wednesday, September 16.

PDP state chairman, Dr Bello Gambo Bichi, said the process followed the party’s constitution and relevant electoral provisions governing the replacement of a candidate who voluntarily steps down.

“Last time we did a primary election in which Mohammed Bello Dalha was declared winner, but following consultations among stakeholders in Kano and Abuja, the candidate decided to withdraw.

“The law says that as a result of withdrawal, a replacement primary must be held. That is what brought us here today.

“We have affirmed Muhammad Sani Abacha as the gubernatorial candidate of our great party in Kano State,” Bichi explained.”

The party subsequently conducted a replacement primary on September 16, with Dr Abba Abdullahi, chairman of the electoral panel, declaring Abacha the winner.

Abdullahi said the exercise complied with the PDP’s internal guidelines and applicable electoral regulations. He also stated that Abacha fulfilled the conditions required to secure the party’s nomination.

The state chairman also announced that the party had reached an agreement to resolve its factional disagreements through a reconciliation arrangement.

Under the agreement, the deputy governorship ticket was allocated to the Turaki faction. Yusuf Ado Kibiya, a former factional PDP chairman and former Commissioner for Land and Agriculture, was subsequently announced as the party’s deputy governorship candidate.

“After a wide consultation and reconciliation, we agreed to give the deputy governorship slot to the Turaki faction here in Kano. With this, there is no faction in Kano PDP.

“We have reconciled,” he said, adding that representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) witnessed the process,” he said.

Bichi further disclosed that the reconciliation also resulted in changes to some of the party’s National Assembly and state assembly candidates.

He maintained that the developments had brought the different camps together and described the party as “waxing stronger” ahead of the elections.

The resolution of the internal dispute and the emergence of Abacha come after a period of disagreements within the Kano PDP.

Party leaders said the reconciliation was intended to bring members of the different camps together and strengthen the party’s organisation across the state ahead of the 2027 governorship contest.

Bichi expressed confidence in the party’s prospects, saying the resolution of the dispute and Abacha’s emergence had positioned the PDP to win the next general election.

By Muhammad Aminu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Kano office has pasted names of governorship candidates that will participate in the forthcoming 2023 general election without the candidate of the court-backed faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The electoral umpire pasted Sadiq Wali and Yusuf Bello Danbatta as gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates of the PDP in Kano.

It can be recalled that intra-party conflicts and litigations following parallel leadership structures troubled the PDP, which led to factional primary elections in Kano.

However, a federal high court gave a favourable judgement in favour of Hon. Shehu Wada Sagagi-led faction that produced Mohammed Abacha as the governorship candidate of the party.

The other faction of the party, led by Sen. Bello Hayatu Gawarzo, who is the North-West vice chairman of the party, produced Sadiq Wali as the governorship candidate of its faction in a parallel primary.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kano, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, had earlier told journalists in Kano that INEC recognized Mohammed Abacha as the rightful candidate having produced by the faction that was recognized by the court of law.

Reacting to the development that creates confusion in the PDP in the state, INEC Public Relations Officer in Kano, Ahmad Adam Maulud, said the commission at the Kano office submitted the results of the primaries it had monitored to the headquarters of the electoral umpire in Abuja, but they were sent the list they pasted on Friday.

“Whoever wishes to seek any clarification should contact the national body of his or her party for any information,” Maulud said.