Leadnaija
Ahead of the 2027 general election, the race for some Government Houses at the states is gaining momentum.
While some aspirants have publicly declared their interest in becoming governors in their states, others are doing so from behind the scenes.
Similarly, some aspirants, conscious of their light political weight, are forming alliances with well-known politicians to check the marginalisation of their constituencies and stop the big political parties from maintaining their grip on their states.
An investigation by LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed the political undercurrents in states where the incumbent governors are on their second term. The governors’ preferences and zoning top the yardsticks for the emergence of the likely candidates, especially for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which are the dominant parties in the affected states.
Amidst the intense politicking, Governor Abdullahi Sule and his Oyo State counterpart Seyi Makinde have declared that they have no anointed aspirants for the race.
While Makinde said that his successor would be determined by the people of Oyo State, Sule, through his senior special assistant on public affairs, Peter Ahemba, described the rumours that he had an anointed candidate as baseless and aimed at tarnishing the image of his principal.
Ahemba told journalists at a recent press conference in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, that the governor was focused on governance and would not be bothered by detractors who did not wish the state’s people and his administration well.
For nearly two decades, the governorship contest in Lagos State has been throwing up unexpected candidates backed by the state’s power figure who determines who governs it. Already, the polity is charged as potential aspirants eyeing the seat have started underground politicking.
There are speculations that those aspiring for the Alausa Round House on the platform of the ruling APC include President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu; the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; a former governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, and Senator Tokunbo Abiru.
The factors and personalities that will determine who emerges the candidate of the ruling party in the state and ultimate winner of the poll proper include President Tinubu, religion, zoning, and the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) of the APC among others.
However, whoever gets the president’s nod —as the strongman of Lagos politics—automatically emerges as the party’s consensus candidate and the likeliest winner of the contest.
There are insinuations that since Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, a Christian, succeeded Akinwunmi Ambode, it may be difficult for another Christian to be considered for the governorship job in the state.
Except by a stroke of political fate, former Governor Ambode, a Christian, is favoured to return to govern the state for four years – to make up for the 16 years Tinubu and former Governor Babajide Fashola spent consecutively as Muslim governors in Lagos.
In spite of the series of endorsements, Seyi Tinubu has not admitted that he really wants to run for the position. Again, Obasa, the longest-serving Speaker of Lagos State who was recently impeached and reinstated, had linked his ordeals to his governorship ambition, saying he is not too young or inexperienced to contest the seat.
Political observers are not ruling out the possibility of people like Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president; former Lagos State Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, fondly called HMO, who is the principal secretary to the president, and the current deputy governor Dr. Hamzat Kadri, getting the ultimate endorsement by Tinubu to be the governor in 2027.
In Gombe State, those being speculated as showing interest to succeed Governor Inuwa Yahaya in the ruling APC include the incumbent minister of transportation, Sa’idu Alkali; former minister of communication, Isa Ali Pantami; the state’s accountant-general, Aminu Yuguda; House of Representatives member, Usman Bello Kumo, and the deputy national financial secretary of APC, Dattiwa Ali Kumo. But it is being rumoured that the governor prefers the accountant-general as his successor come 2027.
In the opposition PDP, politicians believed to be nursing the governorship ambition are former House of Representatives members Khamisu Mailantarki, Alhaji Hamma Saleh, and Mohammed Barde, who was the party’s candidate in 2023.
In Bauchi State, several aspirants from the APC and PDP have expressed interest in succeeding Governor Bala Mohammed.
The aspirants include Abdul Ningi, the current senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District; Dr Yakubu Adamu, the commissioner for finance; and Barrister Ibrahim Kashim, the former secretary to the state government (SSG).
In the APC, the minister of health and social welfare, Prof Ali Pate; his foreign affairs counterpart, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar; the senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, Shehu Buba; former one-term governor of the state, Mohammed Abubakar; former chief of air staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd) and Senator Halilu Dauda Jika, are eyeing the top job in Bauchi State.
At the moment, Governor Bala Mohammed has not publicly endorsed any aspirant from the PDP to succeed him.
In Nasarawa State, the western senatorial district is favoured to produce the next governor, according to the power rotation formula adopted by key stakeholders since 1999. Described as laudable, the initiative allows power to rotate among the three senatorial districts in the state.
However, the northern zone, where the incumbent hails from, is agitating to retain the slot in 2027 on the grounds that the zoning arrangement was altered when the southern senatorial district had the seat for 12 years.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalls that the late Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma, who succeeded Abdullahi Adamu in 2007 on the platform of the PDP, lost to Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, also from the southern zone in 2011 after spending the first term of four years.
Al-Makura contested for the seat on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform. He held the office for eight years and left in 2019.
Therefore, the PDP insists that the southern zone should take the slot, arguing that the current zoning arrangement is that of the APC.
The ruling APC’s body language, however, indicates that its candidate will come from the western zone even though certain stalwarts from the northern zone are equally eyeing the position.
Prominent among the APC stalwarts who have shown interest in the office from the western zone are former minister of environment Barrister Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi, former executive secretary of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuaibu, Prof. Abdulkarim Kana, Prof. M.I. Haruna, and architect Ibrahim Mohammed Ja’afar.
There are also indications that Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, could rejoin the APC to contest the governorship.
The senator, who is said to be close to the incumbent, has been visible in key public functions in the state.
However, at a recent event, Governor Abdullahi Sule told journalists that he had no anointed candidate for the state’s most coveted seat.
In Kwara State, Ambassador Yahaya Seriki is the only person who has openly shown interest in becoming the next governor in 2027.
But LEADERSHIP Weekend findings revealed that there are two other aspirants for the Ahmadu Bello Government House, Ilorin, come 2027.
Though these aspirants have not openly declared their intention, their supporters have been campaigning for them through publications on social media.
Seriki is a stalwart of the APC and was the director-general of the Kwara APC Campaign Council in 2019 and 2023.
Meanwhile, there are strong agitations for the ceding of the gubernatorial seat to Kwara North Senatorial District which has not produced a governor since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
Findings showed that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has neither indicated which zone should produce his successor. nor a particular aspirant.
Oyo State may be a key battleground between the ruling PDP and the opposition APC.
Some of the potential candidates who have indicated their interest in occupying the Agodi Government House are Chief Jubril Dotun Sanusi (JDS), Senator Sharafadeen Alli, Senator Teslim Folarin, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Hon. Remi Oseni, and Chief Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja.
However, none of these candidates have made formal declarations to run for the governorship seat.
As part of the politicking, an APC chieftain Taofeek Oladele, who declared that the APC was not a party of battlers, said: “We are all brothers and sisters of the same political family, the APC. We need peace and unity for the APC to rescue the state.”
In the quest to wrest power from the PDP, the Jubril Dotun Sanusi Support Group has formed an alliance with the Remi Oseni Committee of Friends (ROCOF) in Oyo State.
The move signals Chief Jubril Sanusi’s intention to support Aderemi Oseni’s governorship ambition. Oseni is a House of Representatives member representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency on the APC platform and chairman of the House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).
Sanusi described the alliance as a strategic step toward transforming Oyo State’s political and economic landscape.
Also, a political group is fronting the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, for the 2027 governorship race in the state.
Adelabu, who previously ran for the governorship seat under the Accord Party in the 2023 election and the APC in 2019, appears to be positioning himself for another shot at the state’s top job.
The group, operating under the name Mandate Group Bayo 4 Gomina, in a WhatsApp message urged “like-minded progressives” with a shared passion, mission, and vision to attend the meeting.
In Borno State, the battle for the Government House has not come to the open yet, with no aspirant publicly declaring their ambition; however, political pundits claim the gladiators are waiting for the right time to do so.
However, Vice President Kashim Shettima and Governor Babagana Umara Zulum may play a critical role in who becomes the governor of the state in 2027.
The front runners and the gladiators expected to throw their hats into the ring are Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan, the senator representing Borno Central at the National Assembly (NASS).
The former attorney-general and commissioner for justice emerged the favourite of Shettima, alongside the incumbent governor (Babagana Zulum) in 2019 among the over 20 aspirants that declared their intention for the position and even picked the nomination forms of the APC before the baton was handed to Zulum, who is on his second term.
Aside Kaka Shehu Lawan, others on the watch list are the former commissioner for finance, budget and economic planning, Hon Adamu Alhaji Lawan, a banker and economist who performed excellently during his tenure. Senator Baba Kaka Bashir Garbai, a one-time senator representing Borno Central is also an aspirant to watch.
The current minister of agriculture and food security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, is also seen by pundits, alongside the deputy national chairman of APC, North, Dr Ali Bukar Dalori, as major gladiators eyeing the Borno Government House. Also on the contenders’ list is Matawalle Kashim Iman, a former TETFUND boss.
Some groups are calling on Dr Kyari Dikwa, a philanthropist and business mogul, to join the race.
In Imo State, former deputy governor Prince Eze Madumere has insisted that it’s the turn of the Owerri zone to produce Governor Hope Uzodimma’s successor.
The succession battle has thrown up aspirants in the APC, such as Chief Chidi Amadi and the ex-governor of the state, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.
According to Madumere, one of his reasons for indicating interest was the imbalance in power rotation, which favoured the Okigwe and Orlu zones.
He said Orlu zone has had the longest rule of over 20 years, producing three governors – Chief Achike Udenwa (1999-2007); Owelle Rochas Okorocha (2011-2019); and the incumbent Uzodimma.
Okigwe has had its turn twice in the persons of the late Chief Sam Mbakwe and Chief Ikedi Ohakim, while Owerri zone had a short-lived opportunity under the late Chief Evan Enwerem and Emeka Ihedioha.
Madumere insisted that “the most expedient and auspicious time to correct this is the next governorship election”, stressing that it was the time for Orlu and Okigwe zones to extend the same support and trust that Owerri zone had given to them.
Also, there is a document, “Charter of Equity,” produced by Imo Elders Council which gave Governor Uzodimma the opportunity to seek a second term, though his zone has held the office for 20 years.
Some of the front line aspirants from Imo North include Mazi Chima Amadi who hails from Ngor Okpala. He is adjudged to have in his favour a huge war chest and good contacts.
Ihedioha, who has not announced his new move, has his political structures springing up across the state.
Chief Jerry Chukwueke from the Owerri zone and Charles Orie from the Orlu zone are some of those within the APC who want to succeed Uzodimma.
SDP Vows To Present Credible Candidates
The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the South West, Mulikat Akande, has announced that the party will present reliable and proven candidates for elective positions to challenge the ruling PDP in Oyo State at the 2027 general elections.
She said the SDP would ensure that only credible candidates were nominated to represent the party.
“You don’t just sit down and say you want to win the election and then go and bring out anybody. We must have the right candidates, somebody tested and trusted, who has integrity such that when people hear his name, they can rely on him. Those are the qualities we are looking for,” she said.
