APC Sure Of Winning Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto – Yilwatda

The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has expressed strong confidence in its chances ahead of the 2027 general elections, saying the APC has consolidated its hold on key swing states in the Northwest and is well positioned to dominate the polls.

Speaking during a media chat monitored in Abuja on Wednesday, national chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, conducted a state-by-state breakdown of the party’s political standing, starting with Kano, which he described as already secured.

“I can assure you that Kano is a given to us as APC, and it is a swing state in the Northwest,” he said.

The chairman identified three major political blocs in Kano which includes the Ganduje bloc, the Kwankwaso bloc, and the Shekarau bloc arguing that the APC has significantly weakened opposition structures while reinforcing its own.

On the Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso threat, he said most of the votes the former governor attracted in 2023 came not from his own base but from disgruntled APC members who temporarily defected.

He said those members have since returned.

“It wasn’t Kwankwaso alone who delivered those votes. It was mostly aggrieved members of APC who moved to Kwankwaso and strengthened him. The two senators are back to APC. The House of Representatives, except one, have all moved to APC.

“The entire House of Assembly, only one remains. All the local government chairmen and councillors have all defected to APC. It leaves Kwankwaso vulnerable and weakened. We are strengthened,” said Yilwatda.

He also revealed that he personally travelled to Kano to court the Shekarau and Gwarzo blocs, spending two days in the state in ongoing negotiations.

“I sat down with them, I engaged them, and we met with them. From all the exco of PDP, the structure of both Gwarzo and Shekarau, they were all with me,” he said.

Turning to Kaduna, the second major swing state in the Northwest, Prof. Yilwatda said the APC has resolved longstanding grievances that had previously cost the party significant votes, particularly in Southern Kaduna.

“The entire Southern Kaduna that used to go against us, they have all returned to APC. What was their grievance? Their grievance was with former Governor Nasir El-Rufai. El-Rufai is now in ADC. So the entire structure of Southern Kaduna is with us,” he said.

He also dismissed concerns about the APC’s standing in Zaria, El-Rufai’s home base, saying very few people had followed the former governor out of the party.

“We had an election in Zaria. He campaigned; he was on top of vehicles; he was everywhere campaigning. But how many people moved out of APC from there? Numbers are very few. Zaria is intact. Kaduna is intact. We are about to have more votes in Kaduna than before,” he said.

On Sokoto, the third swing state he assessed, Prof. Yilwatda said the APC controls three out of four major political structures in the state.

“The governor’s structure is intact. We have three out of four,” he said, expressing confidence that the state would deliver for the party.

Across all three states, the APC chairman painted a picture of a party that has not only held its ground but grown stronger since the 2023 elections, absorbing defectors from opposition ranks while shoring up its own structures ahead of what promises to be a fiercely contested 2027 race.