The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, has submitted the names of the NDC candidates in the 19 Northern states, including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Kwankwaso made this known in a statement posted on his verified X handle on Thursday.

He thanked the leadership of the party and all the candidates for their cooperation and unwavering commitment.

The former Kano State governor described the move as another decisive step towards building a formidable NDC team capable of competing strongly at every level.

According to him, the task ahead is promising, and he expressed their readiness to go ahead.

“In a spirit of complete collaboration, support and solidarity, I led the coordination and formal submission of National Democratic Congress, NDC, candidates across the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Working closely with the National Working Committee, NWC, and candidates at all levels, the exercise was successfully concluded today, Thursday, 20th August 2026, with the formal presentation of all candidates’ names to the NDC National Leader, His Excellency Sen. Seriake Dickson,” he tweeted.

A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumini Jibrin, has said supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kano will retaliate against any attack or provocation directed at President Bola Tinubu, the state governor or the party.

Jibrin made the remark while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.

His comment followed the burning of Tinubu’s signature cap and the APC broom by supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, in Kano.

In retaliation, APC supporters in the state reportedly burned Kwankwansiya signature caps associated with NDC leader and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Jibrin said the APC supporters would not allow anyone to ridicule Tinubu, the governor or the party.

He said, “When somebody comes with a knife and he’s trying to cut off my neck, what do you want me to do? To hold it and push it back.

“We don’t create trouble in Kano. We don’t look for trouble. All we do is that we just campaign. We’re minding our business. We don’t throw abuses at them. We know them very well.

“We will retaliate because we will not allow anybody to ridicule our president or our governor or our party. We will never allow that. Never, we will not.

“So, what do you think we should do? We should allow them to continue to burn our caps?

“In politics, that is self-defence. Show me one place where we looked for trouble.”

The PDP candidate for Ogun State House of Assembly, Abeokuta South Constituency 2, Adeoye Adeniran, has maintained that while residents of the state do not oppose the aspiration of the Yewa-Awori people to produce the next governor, they would resist any attempt to impose an outsider.

Adeniran noted that the agitation for power rotation to Ogun West is legitimate, but warned against the emergence of a “non-indigene with identity crisis or a proxy sent from Lagos”.

He spoke in reaction to the Olota’s recent reaffirmation of support for Ogun West to produce the next governor during a visit by the PDP’s governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu.

DAILY POST reports that the Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege, alongside other Awori traditional rulers, reaffirmed their support for Senator Solomon Adeola as the preferred candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.

The monarch stated that equity, fairness and justice require that Ogun West be allowed to produce the next governor, adding that the Awori people had resolved to support a candidate whose agenda aligns with the senatorial district’s interests.

Reacting, the PDP chieftain asserted that the issue should not be reduced to an ethnic contest, arguing that what should matter to the people is the identity, credibility, competence and genuine connection of whoever seeks to govern the state.

He said, “Truly, as a Yewa indigene, I believe it is right for Ogun West to produce the next governor of Ogun State. But we cannot, because of that legitimate aspiration, allow a non-indigene or a proxy from Lagos to lead us. If we do, we will all regret it.”

Adeoye stressed that leadership must be built on truth and transparency, declaring that anyone who could not be trusted to tell the truth about “little things” should not be entrusted with the responsibility of governing the state.

He harped on the importance of allowing citizens to freely determine who governs them rather than presenting the position of individual traditional rulers as a collective endorsement.

Adeoye also pointed to expressions of support for Adebutu among Egba communities in Sango, Ijoko and Ota, saying such developments demonstrated that political choices in Ogun could not be reduced to the position of one traditional institution or one geographical axis.

The controversy also reportedly prompted the Palace of the Olofin Adimula Oodua of Ado-Odo, Oba Olusola Idris Osolo Adebowale Otenibotemole II, to distance itself from the position attributed to the Palace of the Olota of Ota in connection with an ‘Awori Obas Forum’.

In its clarification, the palace said the visit to the Olota should not be interpreted as representing all Awori traditional rulers in Ogun State and could not be taken as the position of all Awori traditional rulers in the state.

Reacting to the development, Adeoye argued that the ongoing debate should ultimately be settled by the electorates.

He said Ogun people deserved a governor who was genuinely connected to the state, understood its challenges and could be held accountable by its citizens.

He called on residents across the three senatorial districts to look beyond ethnic, sectional considerations and examine the antecedents, identity, credibility of candidates, before making their choice at the polls.