The Nigerian Democratic Congress nominated Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo as its flagbearer for the 2027 governorship election in Kano State on Friday morning, placing the former deputy governor on a path that could send him against Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, who chaired a stakeholders’ meeting at his residence on Miller Road in Kano, announced the decision in a video broadcast posted on Facebook by his media aide, Saifullahi Hassan. He also unveiled Nasiru Gawuna as the party’s senatorial candidate for Kano Central District, a move that would replace incumbent senator Rufai Hanga if it stands.
Gwarzo resigned as deputy governor in March after a sharp disagreement with Yusuf over the governor’s defection to the All Progressives Congress in January. Weeks before that resignation, the Kano State House of Assembly had initiated impeachment proceedings against him, and Gwarzo later said his departure was not an admission of wrongdoing. He denied any misconduct and declined to follow Yusuf to the APC.
The nomination deepens a political shuffle that has pushed Kano’s opposition map into near-constant motion. Ahead of the 2023 elections, Gwarzo and Yusuf had jointly secured the governorship ticket of the NNPP, only for both men to end up on different sides of the state’s latest defections and ticket changes. Earlier this month, Kwankwaso himself defected to the NDC alongside a serving senator, four members of the House of Representatives and several state assembly lawmakers, giving the party a faster-than-expected rise as an opposition force in the state.
Gawuna’s selection adds another twist. He defected from the APC in March after months of protests over alleged marginalisation following his unsuccessful governorship bid, and Daily Trust reported that he accepted the party’s offer of a Senate ticket. The newspaper quoted Tahir Ahmad as saying that the former deputy governor had agreed to contest for the Kano Central Senatorial seat on the NDC platform. Kwankwaso had reportedly preferred Gwarzo for the governorship ticket and offered Gawuna either the deputy governorship slot or the Senate race in Kano Central.
Kwankwaso said the NDC would formally affirm all its candidates in Kano State on Friday, from the State House of Assembly to the presidential ticket, and said all the tickets were resolved through a consensus arrangement. The party had previously announced Kassim Batayya as its senatorial candidate for Kano South District, while the Premium Times report said no candidate had yet been named for Kano North District.
That leaves the NDC with a full slate still to be shown in public, but Friday’s meeting made its direction clearer. If the nominations are confirmed, Gwarzo will enter the governorship race with the backing of the Kwankwasiyya camp, and the real test will be whether the same political machine that carried him and Yusuf to victory in 2023 can now deliver one against the other.
