A former senator, Kabiru Gaya, has lost the Nigeria Democratic Congress senatorial ticket for Kano South ahead of the 2027 general elections despite recently defecting to the party.
The party reportedly adopted Kassim Batayya as its consensus candidate during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Miller Road residence of former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
The development comes weeks after Gaya left the All Progressives Congress and aligned with the Nigeria Democratic Congress amid ongoing political realignments in Kano State ahead of the 2027 elections.
Gaya had recently resigned from the APC on April 5, briefly joined the African Democratic Congress, and later moved to the NDC alongside Kwankwaso.
He had reportedly been positioning himself for a return to the Senate under the new party platform.
However, despite earlier speculation that he would secure the ticket, the party settled for Batayya during its primary process.
The decision was confirmed by Kwankwaso’s media aide, Saifullahi Hassan, in a Facebook post, where he also shared a video showing Gaya endorsing Batayya as the party’s consensus candidate.
In the video, Gaya acknowledged that the decision was taken in his absence but said he accepted it in the interest of unity within the party.
“We are all working for the progress of the party. Although I was not present when the decision was taken, I have accepted it in good faith,” he was quoted as saying.
He added, “Politics is about sacrifice and understanding. What is important is the collective interest of the party and the future of Kano South.”
Gaya served as Governor of Kano State during the Third Republic between 1992 and 1993 and later represented Kano South Senatorial District from 2015 to 2023 under the APC.
He lost his re-election bid in 2023 to Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila, who ran on the New Nigeria People’s Party platform.
Sumaila has since defected to the APC and is widely reported to have secured the ruling party’s ticket for the 2027 senatorial election in Kano South.
