Zainab Abioye
The Peoples Democratic Party in Kano State has replaced its earlier governorship candidate, Muhammad Bello Dalha, with Muhammad Sani Abacha, son of former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Abacha was affirmed as the party’s candidate during an expanded meeting of the Kano State PDP executive committee on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, following Dalha’s withdrawal from the race. Multiple reports, including Vanguard and TheCable, independently reported the development.
The development means Abacha will return to the Kano governorship contest on the PDP platform, having also contested the 2023 governorship election as the party’s candidate. INEC’s published 2023 candidate list confirms Mohammed Sani Abacha as the PDP governorship candidate in Kano at the time.
Announcing the change, the Kano PDP Chairman, Dr Bello Gambo Bichi, said Dalha had previously emerged from the party’s governorship primary but subsequently withdrew following consultations involving stakeholders in Kano and Abuja.
Bichi explained that the withdrawal necessitated another process to fill the vacancy.
“The law says that as a result of withdrawal, a replacement primary must be held. That is what brought us here today. We have affirmed Muhammad Sani Abacha as the gubernatorial candidate of our great party in Kano State,” he said.
The party subsequently conducted the replacement primary, with Abacha formally declared the winner by the electoral panel.
The panel chairman, Dr Abba Abdullahi, said the exercise was conducted in accordance with the party’s guidelines and applicable electoral regulations, according to reports of the exercise.
The party named former PDP state chairman and former Commissioner for Land and Agriculture, Alhaji Yusuf Ado Kibiya, as Abacha’s running mate.
According to the party leadership, the decision formed part of efforts to reconcile different tendencies within the Kano PDP and consolidate the party’s structure ahead of the 2027 election.
Bichi said the reconciliation arrangement also resulted in changes to some of the party’s National Assembly and State House of Assembly candidates.
He added that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission were present and witnessed the replacement exercise.
The emergence of Abacha gives the PDP a familiar name in the 2027 Kano governorship contest.
He contested the 2023 governorship election on the PDP platform. INEC’s official candidate list for that election recorded Mohammed Sani Abacha as the party’s Kano governorship candidate.
The 2027 governorship election is scheduled for February 6, 2027, according to the current election timetable published by INEC.
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