Reported by Musa Antiketu, Journalist at Sele Media Africa.
KANO, Nigeria — Leading figures in the All Progressives Congress have backed Murtala Sule Garo for a top Kano State ticket as the party sharpens its 2027 strategy and tries to rebuild its northern base after the 2023 defeat. The push places former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and federal lawmaker Alhassan Ado Doguwa at the centre of the latest realignment in Kano politics. The move also signals that the party still treats Kano as a decisive battleground in national politics. (premiumtimesng.com)
Kano Power Brokers Move Again
Party insiders in Kano describe the endorsement as part of a longer effort to restore the structure that carried the APC into the 2023 governorship contest with Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and Murtala Sule Garo on the ticket. Daily Trust reported in 2023 that Ganduje publicly defended the Gawuna-Garo arrangement as a continuity project, while later reporting showed the same bloc remained active inside the party’s Kano chapter. (dailytrust.com)
The current push matters because Kano remains one of Nigeria’s most politically valuable states. The APC lost the governorship in 2023 to the New Nigeria Peoples Party, and party leaders have spent much of the past year trying to close ranks after a series of internal disputes and defections. (dailytrust.com)
Garo, a former commissioner, remains a familiar figure in the APC’s Kano machinery. Premium Times and Daily Trust have both linked him to the party’s 2023 campaign structure, where he served as deputy governorship candidate under Gawuna. (premiumtimesng.com)
Why Kano Matters To APC
Kano often sets the tone for northern electoral politics. A strong APC showing in the state can lift the party’s national claim that it still commands large support across the North West, while a split in Kano can weaken that narrative ahead of the next federal cycle. That makes every public endorsement in the state a signal, not just a local party event. (dailytrust.com)
Ganduje’s position carries added weight because he no longer controls Kano government house, but he still influences a network of lawmakers, local chairmen, former commissioners, and campaign organisers. TheCable reported in March 2026 that Nasiru Gawuna left the APC, a development that added fresh uncertainty to the old 2023 alliance around Garo. (thecable.ng)
That resignation weakened one of the most recognisable faces of the APC’s Kano ticket. It also opened space for other party actors to argue for a new configuration, even if they keep drawing on the same political machinery that shaped the 2023 race. (thecable.ng)
The Doguwa Factor
Alhassan Ado Doguwa gives the backing a federal dimension. Daily Trust identified him among APC leaders who attended meetings in Kano around party strategy and leadership alignment, which shows that the push for Garo reaches beyond state-level politics into the party’s national legislative network. (dailytrust.com)
That matters because Doguwa often serves as a bridge between Kano politics and the APC’s national caucus in Abuja. When a figure with his profile backs a state-level contender, the move can influence how the federal party reads loyalty, structure, and winnability in the North West. This is especially important in a state where factional loyalty often decides who controls party machinery. (dailytrust.com)
The endorsement also highlights the APC’s dependence on old political alliances in Kano. Rather than presenting new faces, the party keeps returning to familiar names from the 2023 campaign. That suggests the leadership believes experience and network still matter more than a full reset. (premiumtimesng.com)
Internal Tensions Stay Visible
The Kano chapter of the APC has not hidden its divisions. Premium Times reported in 2025 that a separate dispute broke out after a former lawmaker rejected a different endorsement tied to Ganduje, which showed that the party’s local bloc still struggles to agree on succession and influence. (premiumtimesng.com)
That pattern matters for Garo because any renewed push around his name may revive questions about whether the party has learned from its 2023 losses. The same structure that produced discipline in one contest can also create resentment when different power centres feel excluded. (premiumtimesng.com)
Party members who support the move present it as strategic consolidation. Critics inside the broader Kano APC camp may see it as another round of elite bargaining that privileges familiar brokers over wider consultation. That tension defines much of the party’s internal debate in the state. (premiumtimesng.com)
Garo’s Political Value
Murtala Sule Garo brings administrative experience and local recognition. TheCable and Daily Trust both identified him as the APC’s deputy governorship candidate in the 2023 Kano contest, and party references to him continue to frame him as part of the state’s established governing class. (media.premiumtimesng.com)
Supporters argue that this profile helps the APC avoid the cost of experimentation. They see Garo as someone who understands ward-level mobilisation, rural politics, and the network of loyalists that often decides elections in Kano. That argument resonates in a state where turnout, bloc voting, and elite coordination can shape the outcome. (dailytrust.com)
Still, the same familiarity can also become a weakness. Voters who want change may read the move as evidence that the APC has not refreshed its bench since the last election. The party must therefore decide whether Garo represents continuity or stagnation. (dailytrust.com)
What The Party Is Signalling
The endorsement of Garo sends at least three messages. First, the APC wants to keep its Kano structure intact despite recent defections and internal quarrels. Second, it wants to protect Ganduje’s influence even after his exit from the national chairmanship in 2025. Third, it wants to show that its northern machinery still functions. (thecable.ng)
Premium Times reported in June 2025 that Ganduje resigned as APC national chairman, and the party moved Ali Dalori into an acting role. That shift did not end Ganduje’s relevance in Kano, where his name still carries weight among loyalists and local power brokers. (premiumtimesng.com)
In practical terms, the backing for Garo may also serve as an early test of whether the APC can unify around a single slate before the next electoral cycle hardens into full campaign mode. If the party cannot settle its internal direction early, it risks handing rivals a fresh opening in the state. (premiumtimesng.com)
What It Means For Nigeria
Kano politics often reflects wider trends in Nigeria’s ruling parties. When a state chapter leans on a small group of power brokers, it exposes how much influence old patronage networks still hold over candidate selection and internal discipline. That pattern appears not only in Kano but also in other large states where ruling parties depend on personal loyalty as much as ideology. (dailytrust.com)
For the APC, this matters because internal unity can decide how well the party governs and campaigns. A fractured Kano chapter can weaken the party’s North West base, complicate national mobilisation, and deepen suspicion among members who feel left out of decision-making. (thecable.ng)
For the broader region, the development also shows how political succession in Nigeria often begins long before a formal campaign season. Power blocs in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Jigawa watch one another closely, because any major shift in one state can reshape negotiations in others. (dailytrust.com)
What Happens Next
The immediate question now is whether this endorsement turns into a formal party decision or remains a signal from one faction of the Kano APC. If Ganduje, Doguwa, and other senior figures align behind Garo in public, the pressure on rival blocs will increase quickly. (premiumtimesng.com)
Observers will also watch whether Garo responds publicly and whether the party leadership in Kano confirms any wider consensus. The outcome will show whether the APC can turn internal nostalgia into an organised electoral strategy, or whether Kano will again expose the party’s fault lines before the next vote. (dailytrust.com)
Sources:
- TheCable, reported on Nasiru Gawuna’s resignation from the APC, March 2026.
- Daily Trust, reported on Ganduje’s 2023 Kano APC candidate selection and later Kano party alignments, 2023 and 2025.
- Premium Times, reported on Kano APC internal disputes and Ganduje’s resignation as national chairman, 2025.
- Sele Media Africa, related past coverage if applicable, https://selemedia.org/
