•Ganduje, Tinubu and Kwankwaso
There are speculations in some quarters that the political atmosphere in the country should give the ruling party a reason to be worried ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to some commentators, considering what the coalition is doing, especially with the recent unveiling of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the coalition party, the ruling party should be concerned, reports Daily Independent.
Also, the caliber of politicians who have aligned with the coalition can really give the ruling party goose pimples, and so there are speculations in some quarters that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is doing everything possible to ensure that the reelection bid of President Bola Tinubu is not thwarted.
The story out there is that the immediate past national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje must have been forced to exit the party to secure the reelection of the president.
Recall that Ganduje had resigned from his position on Friday as the national chairman of the ruling party, citing health issues as reason for his exit.
Reliable information gathered from sources, noted that Ganduje quit his position over the reported move by former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to join the APC.
Insiders at the national secretariat of the party revealed that the former national chairman was forced to resign over an agreement between President Bola Tinubu and Kwankwaso for the latter to join the party.
According to the source, all the principal officers of the party, including the National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, had tried to prevail on him not to resign.
“We are currently pleading with him (Ganduje) not to resign. He is upset that Kwankwaso is coming to the APC. I think the two of them are sworn enemies. All the stakeholders are begging him to stay,” the source said.
“He has eventually resigned. We couldn’t stop him. I think there is something personal between him and Kwankwaso, who is ready to join the APC after some discussions with the president,” the source added.
According to Saturday Punch of June 28, 2025, Buba Galadima, one of his closest allies of Kwankwaso was contacted to confirm if there was any move by the former Kano State Governor to join the APC, he said he was not aware of such a plan.
He, however, said he was privy to a meeting involving some APC stakeholders and the presidency to “sacrifice Ganduje and the Vice President, Kashim Shettima.
“I am not aware of the defection plan. However, I know Kwankwaso and Ganduje have personal issues. I am equally aware that there was a meeting of APC stakeholders and the presidency three days ago where they agreed that Ganduje and Shettima should be sacrificed to bring a new set of people into government and the party.”
Speaking on the implication of the decision by the ruling party to sacrifice Ganduje who he described as a close ally of the President and a force to be reckoned with in Kano politics, Mahmud Jega a Political Affairs Analyst and former editor-in-chief of Daily Trust Newspapers, noted in an interview, the action will have far reaching implications for the ruling party in the 2027 general elections, especially in Kano State.
He also spoke on the nature of politics in the North, saying that it is most likely the former governor was removed to pave the way for Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to join the ruling party.
“When Ganduje was governor of Kano, he was really doing many things to promote President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s future presidential ambition, organising his birthday in Kano, lining up all kinds of young Kannywood singers and actors all the way from the airport to government house to celebrate him.
“So he really worked very hard for many years when it was not even clear that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had a path to the presidency. So it was no surprise that he was rewarded with the chairmanship.
“Now, to be removed like this, even though it was said that he said he was resigning on health grounds, but I don’t think anybody in Nigeria believes that as the reason. We haven’t heard what the reason is. And definitely this resignation will have implications first in Kano politics and then all over the country and in particular the APC to do with the permutations for the 2027 upcoming elections.
“In Kano, it is known that Ganduje, who was a former two-time deputy governor to Kwankaso in 1999 to 2003 and again in 2011 to 2015, later on they fell out spectacularly and they are the two chief antagonists in the political battle in Kano state. So as chairman of the ruling party, obviously that was a very powerful position which gave them an edge over Kwankwaso, even though Kwankwaso controlled the Kano State government and the governor, Abba Yusuf. But now with the apparent sidelining of Ganduje, obviously the Kwankwaso group in Kano will feel that their biggest opponent has been removed from the scene.
“Now whether the speculation is true that he was actually removed in order to pave the way for Kwankwaso and possibly with the governor to come into APC, that one remains to be seen because it has all kinds of problems because the APC in Kano is also very large and very strong. Don’t forget that they were only narrowly defeated in the 2023 election and their gubernatorial candidate had something like 800 to 900 thousand votes to the 1.1 million that the governor Abba Kabir Yusuf got.
“So they were not a pushover by any means and if you bring Kwankwaso to take over the APC in Kano, then you are not guaranteed that those 800,000 voters in Ganduje’s camp will still be there. That’s why I said it is a very tricky calculation if that was the purpose.
“But we will see, I think maybe within this week we will hear the exact reason why he was forced to resign and if Kwankwaso is coming into APC
“We will also begin to see signs because late last week there were reports that he was actually in talks with the opposition leaders of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA). Whether he goes there or he comes here, I think we will soon begin to see.”
Some analysts are of the view that sacrificing Ganduje for Tinubu’s reelection is not a good way to pay a loyal friend who was there for the president even when it was not clear he would win the election in 2023.
