Ibrahim Shekarau was named the consensus candidate for the Kano Central Senatorial District after a high-level reconciliation meeting in Abuja brought together rival aspirants and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
After hours of deliberations, eight aspirants voluntarily stepped down and endorsed Shekarau as the APC flagbearer for the district, according to TheCable, while Channels Television said seven aspirants withdrew from the 2027 race. The names linked to the move included Usman Bala Mohammed, Sha’aban Sharada, Muhammad Zango, Danyaro Yakasai, Abbas Abbas, Garba Abubakar and Shehu Isa Driver.
The breakthrough matters because the dispute had threatened to widen inside the All Progressives Congress over one of its most watched seats in Kano, and it comes with the 2027 general elections already shaping alliances in the state. The reconciliation was brokered in Abuja, where Yusuf gathered the aspirants in an effort to settle the race before it hardened into a bigger party fight.
Usman Bala Mohammed said the governor convened the candidates for a consensus meeting and that, after discussions and consultations, they had agreed to withdraw their aspirations in favour of Shekarau, whom he called their elder brother, leader and former governor. He said the move was in the best interest of Kano State, the APC and Nigeria as a whole. Sha’aban Sharada also said the decision was voluntary and carefully considered, adding that the group had agreed to work together to deliver support in 2027 for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Yusuf, Shekarau and other candidates.
Shekarau thanked Yusuf for what he described as foresight in bringing the aspirants together to broker peace, and said the withdrawals were made willingly and voluntarily in his favour. Yusuf, for his part, said Kano remained politically united despite its vibrant political environment and described the compromise as a bold demonstration of maturity, sacrifice and commitment to democratic values. He added that the state’s interests had to come before any individual, even as he acknowledged that the APC’s internal competition made such negotiations difficult.
The friction in Kano has now been pushed into a more orderly channel, at least for this seat, with the party’s unity pitch tied directly to the 2027 contests. Shekarau said the camp would embrace everybody and promised that Kano would deliver, by the grace of God, for the president, the governor and the other candidates.
