Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi has secured the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket for the 2027 general election after emerging unopposed at the party’s primary held in Dutse on Thursday.
The APC electoral committee declared Namadi the duly elected candidate following the endorsement of delegates drawn from the state’s 287 political wards and 27 local government areas.
Chairman of the committee, Isa Sadiq Achida, who presented the certificate of return to the governor at the Dutse Township Stadium, said the process complied with the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution.
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“In the presence and consent of 287 political ward delegates and 27 local government delegates, and based on Sections 86 and 87 of the Electoral Act as well as Article 20 of the APC Constitution, I hereby declare His Excellency Malam Umar Namadi as the duly elected APC governorship candidate for Jigawa State in the forthcoming 2027 general election,” Achida said.
The governor’s emergence came amid the APC’s nationwide governorship primaries as the ruling party intensifies preparations for the 2027 elections across several states.
Namadi, who is seeking a second term in office, thanked party leaders, delegates and supporters for what he described as a renewed vote of confidence in his administration.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank members of our great party, APC, for endorsing me to contest for a second term as your gubernatorial candidate in the state,” the governor said shortly after receiving his certificate of return.
He pledged to continue executing ongoing infrastructure and development projects across the state if re-elected.
“Our project for a greater Jigawa is on course, and we will continue to pursue it to its logical conclusion,” he added.
The governor also urged party members to work towards securing victory for all APC candidates in the 2027 elections, from the presidential contest to National Assembly and state assembly races.
Thursday’s exercise drew several prominent APC figures in Jigawa, including former governors Ali Saad Birnin Kudu and Saminu Turaki, former Deputy Governor Ibrahim Hassan, Minister of State for Education Suwaiba Ahmad, lawmakers and party stalwarts from across the state.
Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission were also present during the exercise supervised by a national committee from the APC headquarters.
The development reinforces Namadi’s growing influence within the party structure in Jigawa less than four years after succeeding former Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar.
Political observers in the state say the governor’s unopposed emergence signals a strong internal consensus within the APC ahead of what is expected to be another fiercely contested electoral cycle in northern Nigeria.
The APC has maintained a strong political hold on Jigawa since 2015, consistently winning governorship and presidential elections in the state. Party leaders at the primary expressed confidence that the governor’s administration had strengthened the APC’s grassroots support through investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare and agriculture.
The governorship primary in Jigawa also coincided with similar endorsement exercises in other states, including neighbouring Kano, where political alignments ahead of the 2027 polls continue to gather momentum.
Namadi, a former accountant-general of the state and ex-deputy governor, was first elected governor in 2023 under the APC platform.
