APC names Abba Yusuf, Ganduje, Shekarau to 155-member Kano campaign council

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has established a 155-member Campaign Advisory Council in Kano State, placing Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf at the helm of its campaign structure as the party prepares for the 2027 presidential and governorship elections.

The council, unveiled by the party’s Kano State chapter on Tuesday, includes former governors Abdullahi Ganduje and Ibrahim Shekarau, Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin and other influential political figures expected to provide strategic direction for the party’s electoral activities.

The formation of the council marks a step towards organising the APC’s campaign machinery in Kano, one of Nigeria’s politically significant states, ahead of the next general elections.

According to the announcement, the advisory body will serve as the highest-level structure overseeing campaign activities in the state. Its responsibilities will include providing strategic guidance to the campaign directorate, which is expected to coordinate the party’s operational activities.

Ganduje and Shekarau are among the prominent figures named to the council. Both have served as governors of Kano and remain significant names in the state’s political landscape.

Their inclusion brings former state leaders into the same advisory structure as Yusuf, who will chair the council. The body also includes three former military administrators of Kano State: Habibu Shuaibu, Lawan Jafaru-Isa and Yakubu Bako.

The Kano APC chairman, Umar Doguwa, said the council also features Barau Jibrin, Senators Kawu Sumaila and Rufa’i Hanga, as well as all APC candidates and members of the House of Representatives from the state.

The broad composition brings together figures from the executive and legislative arms of government, former state administrators and party candidates, giving the APC a central structure for coordinating its preparations for the elections.

However, the party has yet to constitute the operational 2027 Campaign Directorate, which will work under the advisory council’s strategic oversight. Its membership is expected to be announced at a later date.

The distinction places the advisory council at the top of the proposed campaign hierarchy, while the directorate will be responsible for carrying out the campaign’s day-to-day activities once established.

The announcement came three days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released its final list of governorship candidates for Kano State on Saturday, listing Yusuf and 16 other candidates for the 2027 election.

The publication of the candidates’ list provides a clearer picture of the contest ahead, as political parties move to organise their structures and prepare for the electoral battle.

Opposition parties, including the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), had yet to announce their campaign councils at the time of the report.

The NDC, in particular, faces a separate challenge over the omission of its governorship candidate, Aminu Abdulsalam, from INEC’s list, raising questions about the party’s preparations for the Kano contest.