Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani announced on Saturday that the All Progressives Congress has increased its electoral projection for the 2027 general elections to three million votes. The adjustment was made during a ceremony in Zaria where the governor inducted Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, a former finance commissioner and chief of staff under ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai, along with other senior defectors from the African Democratic Congress. According to Premium Times, Sani cited the state’s 4.6 million registered voters and the high collection rate of Permanent Voter Cards as the basis for the new target. Punch reported that the governor described the shift as a significant political development, noting that the APC would intensify grassroots mobilisation through house-to-house campaigns to secure victory across all electoral levels.

Sa’idu, who leads the Kaduna De-Initiatives group, claimed that over 200,000 card-carrying ADC members had joined the APC through his network. Both Premium Times and Punch noted that Sa’idu declared the ADC effectively dead in the state, arguing that the party was being controlled by a single family and that its primary candidates lacked competitiveness compared to APC nominees. He forecasted that the ADC would secure only third place in the 2027 results, a claim supported by the departure of other El-Rufai associates, including former education commissioner Jafaru Sani and former senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari. The realignment followed disputes over the ADC’s governorship primary, where Isah Ashiru secured 86,113 votes against Sani’s 29,580, a result the governor initially contested as irregular.

In response to the shifting alliances, former governor Nasir El-Rufai issued a statement reflecting on his relationships with former colleagues, noting that adversity had revealed the nature of some alliances. According to Premium Times, El-Rufai wrote that he had supported people and causes without expecting reciprocity, though his remarks coincided with his ongoing legal proceedings. Sani linked the APC’s electoral ambitions to federal projects and political appointments in Kaduna, highlighting the role of Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker of the House of Representatives. He assured new members that the party offered equal opportunities, stating that no member was more important than another, regardless of when they joined the political camp.