Partisan drums rolled across Nigeria yesterday as governorship campaigns officially opened for the February 6, 2027 elections — and in the Northwest, the loudest voice came from the ADC.
Former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, SAN, now the ADC governorship candidate in Kebbi, led six other ADC candidates in Abuja to unveil a “Regional Covenant for Security, Development and Shared Prosperity.” It was less a manifesto launch, more a declaration of war against the status quo.
“16,000 Lives Lost, Farms Abandoned”
Standing before cameras, Malami painted a grim picture of the zone the APC currently controls.
“Our region is crisis-ridden,” he said. “Over 16,000 lives have been lost to insecurity between June 2023 and August 2026. More than 1,583 kidnappings have taken over 10,000 people from homes and farms.”
He added that 533,000 hectares of farmland in Zamfara and Katsina lie idle, and that the Northwest now accounts for 45 percent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children. For Malami, the numbers are not statistics — they are families, empty classrooms, and ghost farms.
ALSO READ: EFCC seeks final forfeiture of 57 property linked to ex-AGF Malami
“We Will Pay N110,000 and End The Looting”
The Kebbi flagbearer turned his fire on APC governors, accusing them of squandering over N8.33 trillion in federal allocations since 2023 without delivering roads, hospitals, or schools.
“The level of looting witnessed across the Northwest is massive and unprecedented,” he declared.
His pledge was blunt: every ADC government in the seven Northwest states will implement a minimum wage of N110,000 from day one. The promise drew cheers from party faithful who gathered for the blueprint unveiling.
Malami himself is battling legal troubles, currently on trial over alleged financial mismanagement as AGF, with no fewer than 40 properties temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.
ALSO READ: Malami, Nnaji, Pantami, Binani, make surprise return to Governorship race in 2027
Campaigns Ignite Nationwide
While ADC rallied in Abuja, APC, PDP and SDP also hit the streets. In Kaduna, APC vowed “issue-based” campaigns around Governor Uba Sani’s record. In Ogun, PDP’s Ladi Adebutu launched “ITURA DE” to fight poverty. In Kano, Governor Abba Yusuf called for peaceful contests.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan has urged all candidates to keep campaigns issue-focused. For Malami and the ADC, the message is already set: security first, wages higher, and a break from APC rule in the Northwest.
