Two years to 2027 general election, 11 serving senators have joined the race for the governorship seats in seven states.
The states are Bauchi, Borno, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers and Yobe.
In Bauchi State, two prominent lawmakers, Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Senator Shehu Buba Umar of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have positioned themselves as early frontrunners.
With their legislative experience and deep political networks, the senators are already mobilising support across key constituencies.
Senator Ningi, a political heavyweight representing Bauchi Central, has declared his ambition under the PDP, rallying party structures and youth groups behind his candidacy. He has cited his long track record in the National Assembly and his commitment to continuity in governance as reasons why the PDP should entrust him with the state’s top job.
Senator Buba, representing Bauchi South under the APC, is yet to make an official declaration but is under pressure from the party’s stakeholders to join the race. Grassroots mobilisation in his favour has already begun, with support groups springing up and consultations ongoing.
Among the three senators representing Nasarawa State in the National Assembly, only Ahmed Aliyu Wadada has openly indicated his interest in contesting for the governorship seat in 2027.
Although speculations are rife that Senator Mohammed Onawo, representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District, is also eying the state’s most coveted seat, but has not openly made his intention public.
Wadada, who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District, won his Senate ticket on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform. Recently, the senator hinted at plans to exit the party, citing principled differences with the former governor of Kaduna State for the move. He did not, however, mention the platform of his choice ahead of the 2027 election.
Wadada, a former member of the APC, has been hobnobbing with stalwarts of the party and leaders in the state, fuelling speculations of his imminent return to its fold.
In Borno State, the senators representing Borno Central, Kaka-Shehu Lawan, and Borno North, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, are aspiring to occupy Borno Government House in 2027 under the ruling APC.
Although they have not made their ambition public, their supporters are not hiding in expressing the ambitions of their candidates through social media handles, with neither of the senators refuting the clamour by their supporters.
Monguno and Lawan have been actively involved in most of the incumbent Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s activities in most areas of the state, a move political pundits considered to be their grand method of mastery of issues surrounding governance ahead of the fulfilment of their ambitions.
Although he has not made public his intention, there are indications that the senator representing Rivers South-East district in the National Assembly, Barinada Mpigi, will contest in the 2027 governorship election in the state.
Mpigi, who hails from this same senatorial district as the suspended governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, will likely contest on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Apart from being the most ranking senator in Rivers and leader of the state caucus in the National Assembly, the Ogoni-born lawmaker is one of the closest allies of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.
The senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Sharafadeen Alli, has indicated interest in the governorship election.
He will contest under the APC.
Alli, a former Ibadan North local government area chairman and chief of staff to former governor Rashidi Ladoja, has been wooing his constituents with various programmes to alleviate poverty.
His empowerment programmes included training youths in information communication technology, distributing point-of-sale (PoS) machines with cash, and presenting farm inputs to farmers to promote food security.
Also, the senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District in NASS, Adeola Olamilekan Solomon, remains the only serving senator with a governorship ambition in Ogun State.
Adeola, popularly referred to as “Yayi”, currently serves on the APC platform and has entrenched his political ambition across the three senatorial districts of the state: Ogun East, Central and West, with party structures to enable him to achieve his ambition.
Three serving senators are struggling to get the Yobe State governorship ticket under the APC.
They are former Senate President Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai and Musa Mustapha Kulas.
Lawan is one of Nigeria’s most prominent political figures. He has spent over two decades in the Nigerian parliament, starting in the House of Representatives and becoming the Senate president in the last dispensation.
Senator Ibrahim Mohammad Bomai, representing Yobe South, has shown interest in the governorship race in 2027.
Since his election, Bomai has delivered tangible results in infrastructure development, youth empowerment, healthcare, and education in his constituency.
Musa Mustapha (Kulas) represents Yobe East Senatorial District. His work ethic and commitment to service are worthy of emulation, but his constituents are not impressed with his performance.
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