Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Tuesday issued a direct charge to the newly elected State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna. Their mandate is clear: mobilize no fewer than two million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections. This ambitious target underscores the strategic importance of Kaduna State in the ruling party's national electoral calculations and sets the tone for early campaign preparations.
The new leadership tasked with this goal is headed by Hon. Isaac Atiku Sankay, who emerged as the consensus Chairman of the party at the end of a State Congress held at Murtala Muhammed Square in Kaduna. Sankay, born in 1983, currently serves as the Special Adviser on Peace and Conflict Resolution to Governor Uba Sani. His appointment suggests a focus on consolidating party unity and managing internal disputes as a foundation for the massive voter mobilization effort ahead.
The congress that produced this leadership was a significant grassroots event. Sankay disclosed that 6,885 ward executives were elected across the state's 255 wards, while 621 local government executives also emerged from the congresses conducted at the grassroots level. At the state level, 36 executive members were affirmed and sworn in, completing a comprehensive party structure from the ward up to the state level, which is now expected to be the engine for the 2027 vote drive.
This political mobilization in Kaduna occurs against a backdrop of national political maneuvering. President Bola Tinubu had, at a recent interfaith breaking of fast with members of the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas at the State House, hinted at returning a majority of the federal lawmakers. He noted exceptions would be made only in areas where there are rotational and zoning arrangements, indicating early jostling for tickets ahead of the next election cycle.
In a separate but sobering context, a report by The Commonwealth highlights a different kind of endurance in Nigeria. A check on the figures showed that no less than 3,500 people, about 1,500 of them children, had weathered over a decade of displacement. This statistic, while not directly linked to the political events, serves as a reminder of the long-term humanitarian challenges that persist in parts of the country, which any administration must address.
Shifting to sports, the Nigeria Super Falcons reaffirmed their class with a commanding 3-1 victory over the Cameroon Indomitable Lionesses in the second of a two-match tour in Yaoundé on Tuesday. Three days after a narrow 1-0 defeat in the first encounter, the Super Falcons returned to the Military Stadium and flipped the script emphatically. Both matches served as crucial preparation for the 14th Women Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to take place in Morocco from 17th March to 3rd April.
In another sports development, Francis Orbih has been re-elected President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) for a third consecutive term. Orbih emerged unopposed at the federation’s elective congress held on Monday, March 2, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, polling all 13 votes cast by accredited delegates. Adamu Alhaji Lawan was also elected Vice President as part of the newly constituted executive board, signaling continuity in the federation's leadership.
The confluence of these events—from high-stakes political mobilization in Kaduna to sporting triumphs and administrative continuity—paints a picture of a nation in motion across various sectors. The explicit two-million-vote target for 2027 set by top APC figures indicates that the race for the next presidential election is already beginning in earnest, with party restructuring at the state level being a critical first step. How this new Kaduna APC executive, under Sankay's leadership, translates its grassroots structure into tangible electoral success will be a key narrative to watch in the coming years.
