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.
