Ganduje’s Son Abdulaziz Returns to APC After Three Months in Kwankwaso’s NDC
Abdulaziz Ganduje, son of former Kano State Governor and immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, has officially returned to the APC after spending roughly three months as a member of the National Democratic Congress led by former Kano governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. His return was formalized on Sunday when he was welcomed back into the party fold during a ceremony held at the Ganduje Ward office in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, where he collected his membership card in the presence of party officials and supporters gathered to witness the occasion.
The event was widely viewed by those present as a public reaffirmation of Abdulaziz’s loyalty to the APC structure in Kano State, following a period during which his political alignment had drawn significant attention across the state. His earlier departure from the party had come as a surprise to many observers, given his family’s longstanding association with the APC and his father’s prominent role within the party’s national leadership structure over the years.
Abdulaziz had originally left the APC roughly three months earlier to join the NDC, where he went on to obtain the party’s nomination form to contest the Dawakin Tofa, Tofa and Rimin Gado Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives. That move was widely interpreted at the time as a significant alignment with the Kwankwasiyya movement, a political camp long associated with Kwankwaso and considered a persistent rival to his father’s APC faction within Kano State. His decision to join Kwankwaso’s political network had generated considerable discussion, particularly given the historically strained relationship between the two prominent Kano politicians.
Notably, Abdulaziz’s return to the APC came after the deadline for obtaining nomination forms for the 2027 general election had already closed, meaning his move back to the party did not translate into an immediate opportunity to contest the House of Representatives seat under the APC platform. As a result, the development has largely been characterized as symbolic in nature rather than a strategic step toward securing electoral candidacy in the short term. Even so, political observers within the state consider his return a meaningful step in consolidating the Ganduje family’s political base within the Dawakin Tofa axis of Kano.
For years, Kano’s political landscape has been shaped significantly by the rivalry between Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiyya movement and the APC faction associated with Ganduje. The two politicians were once close allies, with Ganduje having served as deputy governor during Kwankwaso’s tenure as governor of Kano State. Their relationship, however, deteriorated considerably after Ganduje succeeded Kwankwaso as governor in 2015, giving rise to years of political disagreement and the eventual formation of separate, competing political camps within the state that continue to shape local politics to this day.
Abdulaziz’s earlier defection to the NDC had been seen by many as a notable boost for the Kwankwasiyya movement, given his family background and the symbolic weight his alignment carried within Kano’s political circles. His decision to return to the APC is now similarly viewed as strengthening his father’s camp ahead of the 2027 general elections, particularly as political actors across Kano State continue to position themselves and consolidate alliances in preparation for what is expected to be a keenly contested election cycle in the state.
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