Ganduje’s son returns to APC after NDC stint
Abdulaziz Ganduje, son of the former APC Chairman, has returned to the ruling party after a brief defection to the NDC, in a symbolic move that consolidates his father’s political base in Kano.
Abdulaziz Umar Ganduje, the eldest son of former Governor of Kano State and ex-National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has returned to the ruling party after a brief defection to the New Democratic Congress (NDC). On Sunday, Abdulaziz was formally received back into the APC fold at the Ganduje Ward office in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, where he collected his membership card.
Abdulaziz had earlier joined the NDC and picked up its nomination form to contest the Dawakin Tofa/Tofa/Rimin Gado Federal Constituency seat. His move was widely interpreted as aligning with the Kwankwasiyya movement of former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a long-time rival of his father. His return to APC comes after the deadline for obtaining nomination forms had closed, meaning the action was symbolic rather than an immediate electoral bid.
Kano politics has for years been shaped by the rivalry between Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiyya movement and Ganduje’s APC faction. Abdulaziz’s earlier defection was seen as a boost to Kwankwasiyya, while his return strengthens his father’s camp ahead of the 2027 elections.
The political realignment in Kano is a microcosm of the broader dynamics shaping Nigerian politics. The defection of a Ganduje to Kwankwaso’s camp was a significant blow to the APC’s dominance in Kano. His return is a reassertion of the Ganduje family’s influence.
This echoes the 2022 political realignments in Kano, which also saw defections and counter-defections. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a shifting political landscape in Nigeria’s most populous state.
The winners: the Ganduje family, which has reasserted its political influence; and the APC, which has regained a defector. The losers: the NDC, which has lost a prominent member; and the Kwankwasiyya movement, which has suffered a setback.
Bottom Line: Ganduje’s son is back in the APC. The Kano political landscape is shifting. The question is whether the realignment will affect the 2027 elections.