Governorship, Assembly Campaigns Kick Off, Yari Parleys Lawal, Traditional Leaders

The Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns commenced on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, in line with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable and schedule of activities for next year’s polls.

Consequently, governorship candidates and political parties across the country have begun

campaign activities through unveiling policy agendas and political gatherings.

Against that backdrop, governorship candidates of the African Democratic Convention (ADC) in the seven North Western states have signed Compact 2027–2031 as a regional covenant for security, development and shared prosperity if elected in next year’s gubernatorial election.

The gubernatorial candidates signed the Compact organised by the North West Governorship Strategy Group at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.

Speaking on behalf of the governorship candidates, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who is the ADC flag-bearer for Kebbi State, Abubakar Malami, lamented that the region is crisis-ridden, with over 16,000 lives lost due to insecurity between June 2023 and August 2026.

He also stated that more than 1,583 kidnapping incidents since January 2023 have taken over 10,000 of our people from their homes and farms, while tens of thousands of households have been displaced, and more than 533,000 hectares of farmland in Zamfara and Katsina alone now lie abandoned.

He expressed the governorship candidates’ commitment to reorient governance to respond effectively and efficiently, breaking that vicious cycle of crisis and restoring peace, security and normalcy to the region.

The former Minister of Justice announced plans by the ADC governorship candidates to implement a minimum wage of N110,000 for workers across all seven states of the North West when elected.

He declared the total support of the ADC governorship candidates from the seven Northwest states for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore fuel subsidies as one of the immediate steps to halt the further slide of their people into abject poverty.

Also, APC governorship candidate in Adamawa state, Tijani Galadima, unveiled an agenda which focused on agriculture and security, promising to establish processing factories to help farmers earn more from their produce.

Speaking at a press conference in Yola, Galadima said investment in agriculture would generate revenue, create jobs and support an industrial transformation of the state.

Similarly, the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers State, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, started his campaign with a pledge to serve the people of the state “with the fear of God and mankind” when elected governor in the 2027 general election.

Chinda, a former minority leader of the House of Representatives, stated this in a post on X to officially signal the commencement of his campaign for the forthcoming governorship election.

In Abia, PDP governorship candidate Kelechi Anosike formally launched his campaign with a 10-point manifesto titled “People First, Abia Always,” anchored in what he described as a welfarist approach to governance.

The PDP governorship candidate in Ogun state, Oladipupo Adebutu, also formally flagged off his campaign, promising to “liberate” the state from poverty, insecurity, unemployment and what he described as poor governance.

Adebutu unveiled his campaign agenda, tagged “ITURA DE”, meaning relief or liberation, on Wednesday at the Ake Palace in Abeokuta, where he presented his address titled “A Call to Liberation.”

The APC in Kaduna state has also commenced its governorship and State House of Assembly campaign, promising an issue-based contest focused largely on the record of Governor Uba Sani’s administration.

The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Mohamed Sani Haruna, said the APC would campaign across the state’s 23 local government areas without insults or personal attacks and would also support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, held a closed-door meeting with Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, and traditional rulers in the state capital, Gusau.

The former governor of Zamfara said the party had resolved to present its “scorecard” to Nigerians ahead of 2027.

Yari said his first official engagement as DG was with traditional institutions because of their influence at the grassroots.

On his part, Governor Dauda Lawal said the meeting was organised to formally present Yari, _“a son of the soil”_, to the royal fathers following his appointment.

In another development, there was an uproar over an attack on the convoy of Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in Makurdi, Benue state, by suspected thugs who prevented him from travelling to Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area to sympathise with victims of the June 13, 2025, terrorist attack.

Obi accused the state governor’s Special Assistant on Youths of masterminding the attack and blocking his visit to the affected community.

“I came to Benue not for politics but to mourn with our people, listen to families who have lost loved ones and offer our solidarity during a moment of unimaginable pain,” he said.

However, the Benue State Government denied Obi’s allegation that government thugs blocked him from accessing Yelwata.

Governor Hyacinth Alia described Obi’s allegation as unfounded and an attempt to drag him and the Benue State Government into what could be an internal political dispute within the NDC.

In a statement issued by his chief press secretary, Sir Tersoo Kula, Alia said Obi was not a threat to him and insisted that his administration did not engage, patronise or deploy thugs as instruments of governance or security.

The NDC condemned what it described as the “shameful attack and obstruction” of Obi’s convoy.

In a statement, the party’s national publicity secretary, Osa Director, said the visit was intended solely to mourn with grieving families, offer solidarity and hear from victims about ways to prevent future tragedies.

He called on the Benue State Government and security agencies to investigate the incident, prosecute those responsible and guarantee the safety of citizens and political leaders who visit communities affected by violence.