Former Kano State Deputy Governor Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo has clinched the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket for the 2027 governorship race, marking a major shift in the state’s political landscape.
Gwarzo’s rise as the NDC flagbearer follows a series of strategic realignments within Kano politics, largely orchestrated by influential political figure Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. After stepping down as deputy governor in March 2026, Gwarzo initially joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) alongside Kwankwaso. However, Kwankwaso later led him and other members of the Kwankwasiyya movement into the NDC, where Gwarzo was positioned as the preferred candidate due to his loyalty and alignment with Kwankwaso’s political vision.
On Friday, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the leader of the movement, officially announced Gwarzo as the NDC’s governorship candidate. The declaration was made public by Gwarzo’s spokesman, Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu, who noted that the former deputy governor will be formally affirmed alongside other NDC candidates during a party ceremony.
“The event will also feature the affirmation of the party’s candidates for the State House of Assembly, National Assembly, governorship, and presidential elections,” Shuaibu said in a statement.
Gwarzo’s emergence came after a competitive internal process that also involved Yusuf Gawuna, the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate. Gawuna had recently joined the Kwankwasiyya movement after Governor Abba Yusuf defected to the APC. According to Hon. Habibu Sale Mohammed, spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, extensive consultations led to the decision.
“We are an organised movement. After wide consultations, the leader (Kwankwaso) sat with Aminu Gwarzo and Yusuf Gawuna, analysed his findings, and decided that Gwarzo should contest the governorship,” Mohammed told The Nation on Friday.
He explained that Gawuna was given two options—running as deputy governor or for a Senate seat. “He asked for time to think, and later opted to run for the Kano Central Senatorial seat. The incumbent senator representing the zone, Senator Rufai Sani Hanga, was asked not to contest, and he agreed. That is the beauty of our movement.”
With decades of public service and political experience, Gwarzo now heads into a high-stakes contest against his former boss, Governor Abba Yusuf, in what promises to be a fiercely competitive election in Kano State.
