As political parties in Nigeria gear up for shadow polls in line with the time-table announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), almost all second term governors are scheming to remain relevant after the 2027 elections, either by endorsing their preferred successors or cornering the senatorial tickets of their zones, ONYEDIKA AGBEDO writes.

By May 29, 2027, 10 state governors will complete their constitutionally allowed second terms of office and quit the government houses from where they administered their states for eight years. These include Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Babagana Zulum of Borno State.
 
Others are Governors Bala Mohammmed of Bauchi State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.
 
Some of these governors have answered the question of what next after May 29, 2027, by picking the nomination forms of their parties to represent their senatorial districts in the Senate. However, some seem too distracted to forge a plan having been enmeshed in internal crisis in their parties for months, if not years; while the likes of Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State appears to have resigned to play to the tune of the power brokers in the state as a political strategy. He has already endorsed his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, as his successor, which is in tune with the position of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), a powerful political caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Meanwhile, he has not indicated any political ambition post 2027, at least for now.
 
Unlike Sanwo-Olu, Governors Sule of Nasarawa, Fintiri of Adamawa, Zulum of Borno, Buni of Yobe, Abiodun of Ogun, Mohammed of Bauchi State, Yahaya of Gombe State and AbdulRazaq of Kwara are gunning to join former governors like Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State, Danjuma Goje of Gombe State, Abduaziz Yari of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko, also of Sokoto State; Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, Adamu Aliero of Ogun State, Abubakra Bello of Niger State, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe State and Simon Lalong of Plateau State in the Senate. That is if Nigerians give all of them the mandate.
 
The governors of Adamawa and Yobe may have a smooth path to the Senate with incumbent lawmakers stepping aside in their favour.
 
In Adamawa North, Senator Amos Yohanna withdrew from the race to back Governor Fintiri, a decision he announced at a stakeholders’ event in Mubi where the governor received his N20 million nomination forms.

“My resolve to support Governor Fintiri is guided by personal conviction and loyalty to our people,” Yohanna said, adding that stakeholders jointly encouraged the governor to contest the seat.
 
In Yobe, the senator representing Yobe East Senatorial District, Musa Mustapha, has withdrawn from seeking a second term and declared support for Governor Buni to contest for the seat in 2027.
 
Mustapha also announced his withdrawal from the race for the APC governorship ticket in Yobe State, pledging loyalty to the choice of party leaders on the state’s succession plan.
 
He said the decision followed a meeting of the Yobe APC Critical Stakeholders’ Forum held on April 23, 2026, at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Damaturu, convened by Buni and the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam.
 
He added: “To exercise the spirit of integrity and responsibility, I hereby formally withdraw from the contest for the APC governorship ticket.
 
“Additionally, to make it explicitly clear, I am not contesting the senatorial ticket; rather, I will fully support our leader, His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, to contest the senatorial seat.”
  
In Borno, Governor Zulum has secured his nomination forms to represent the Central District. However, there are indications that he may face resistance, as some interests within the party are reportedly supporting the incumbent Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (SAN) for a second term.
 
This is also the case with Governor AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, who has got the endorsement of some APC stakeholders in the state for the Kwara Central Senatorial ticket of the party. But in a recent interview with The Guardian, a top chieftain of the APC in the state, Alhaji Toyin Olosasa, hinted that it may be difficult for the governor to extend his political relevance beyond 2027.
 
“The truth may be bitter, but it remains the truth. The governor’s rating is at its lowest ebb across Kwara State. It has become so bad that some people are beginning to call for the return of the Saraki political structure,” he said.
  
In Ogun, Governor Abiodun and incumbent Senator Gbenga Daniel are locked in a battle for the APC ticket for Ogun East Senatorial District. Party leaders and key stakeholders in the senatorial district had endorsed Abiodun for the same position after a recent meeting in Abeokuta but Daniel prefers an open, keen contest and has picked the nomination forms. The move has left the party in a web of intrigues and power play ahead of the primaries.
 
In Nasarawa State, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Timothy Anjide, led a high-powered delegation to submit the nomination forms of Governor Abdullahi Sule for the Nasarawa North senatorial race under the APC. Speaking to journalists after the submission, Anjide explained that the governor’s decision to contest was driven by overwhelming calls from stakeholders and residents of the zone.
 
But the governor has a bigger battle in his hands with regard to ensuring the success of his preferred successor at the polls. He has endorsed Senator Ahmed Aliyu-Wadada as his preferred candidate to succeed him as governor of the state, describing the lawmaker as the embodiment of the Muje Maha spirit that has guided his administration’s approach to governance and political inclusivity. However, the decision did not go down well with a section of his party, including former governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who stated that he was neither consulted nor informed before the endorsement or the presentation of Wadada to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who is also seeking the APC ticket, has rejected the endorsement, insisting that the governorship ticket will be decided through a transparent primary. Also, the Nasarawa State Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance Group (NS-TA&G2) has rejected Sule’s endorsement of Wadada, urging the governor to “have an introspective view of the whole scenario and revert to all aspirants and stakeholders alike for an amicable resolution.”
 
Although the governor had defended his action, saying it was the result of wide consultations with stakeholders across the zones, how well he manages the crisis remains to be seen.
 
In Gombe State, Governor Yahaya has joined the contest for the Gombe North Senatorial seat on the platform of the APC.  He was presented with the nomination form during the party’s expanded stakeholders’ meeting, which was attended by governorship and National Assembly aspirants, members of the State Working Committee, party elders, and other senior figures last Wednesday. However, he has been having a running battle with Senator Danjuma Goje, a former two-term governor of the state who currently represents Gombe Central Senatorial District, over the control of the party’s structure. Party members have expressed fears that the crisis could affect the chances of candidates at the polls if not well managed, including the two political elephants fighting.
 
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State tops the list of governors who seem to be still charting a defined direction amid the countdown to the 2027 polls over internal party crisis. His party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has remained in crises even after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on a case that created a sharp division among many influential leaders of the party.
 
The internal schism dates back to the aftermath of the 2023 general election, when unresolved grievances over zoning, leadership control and presidential ambition fractured the party. The crisis was initially triggered by the refusal of the party’s leadership to enforce the resignation of former national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, after the PDP presidential ticket was zoned to the North.
 
That decision alienated the FCT Minister and former governor of Rivers State, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike (who contested the presidential ticket with former vice president Atiku abubakar) and his allies. Wike had argued that the party violated its own zoning principle by allowing both the presidential candidate and national chairman to emerge from the same region. The dispute birthed the G5 Governors, a rebellious body within the party, and set the stage for a prolonged power struggle between rival blocs. But Wike had an upper hand having allegedly funded the party’s structure almost singlehandedly when he governed Rivers State
 
While Governor Makinde later emerged as a rallying point for governors seeking to reclaim the party’s control from the Wike bloc, the fault lines deepened, with both camps using the courts to fight for supremacy. On April 30, 2026, the Supreme Court nullified the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15-16, 2025, by the Makinde camp. In a three-two split decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the convention was illegal having been conducted in direct defiance of a Federal High Court order restraining the party from holding the event.
 
Since that judgment was delivered, the two factions have not yet reached a truce and efforts in that direction appear to be lacking. Last Tuesday, the Makinde-backed faction, which had elected Taminu Turaki (SAN) as the national chairman of the party at the nullified Ibadan Convention, ratified the appointment of a 13-member Caretaker Committee headed by Turaki; a move the Wike faction has criticised as an attempt to establish illegitimate leadership structures within the PDP.
 
Meanwhile, following several court judgments, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still recognises the Wike-backed National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, a situation that has apparently left Makinde and his allies on a shaky ground. Nonetheless, the camp has been hobnobbing with other opposition parties, especially the African Democratic Congress (ADC). With the date set by INEC for the conclusion of party primaries fast-approaching, it is not clear yet if the PDP platform will be available for Makinde and his supporters or whether they will join another party to pursue their 2027 dreams.
 
One of his strong allies, Governor Mohammed of Bauchi, saw the hand writing on the wall and resigned from the PDP last Saturday. He immediately defected to the Allied People’s Movement (APM), leaving Makinde as the last governor standing on the platform of the PDP.
 
Mohammed said he left with all his structure from ward, local government to state level. He was received into the APM by its National Chairman, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, at a ceremony in Bauchi.  He premised his defection on the failure to resolve the protracted crises in the PDP, adding that “the Supreme Court judgment has fundamentally altered the landscape and our expectations.
   
“Consequently, and after extensive consultation, we have taken a firm and strategic decision to join the APM. Let me be clear here, this decision is guided by one overriding objective, to secure victory in both the state and country to serve our people with purpose and integrity.

“The APM offers us a viable platform to organise effectively, mobilise our supporters, and present a coherent and credible alternative to the people. We have carried out due diligence and it is not infected by any legal virus that will serve as an impediment, unless it is manufactured after we have joined,” he said.
 
A former senator, he reportedly plans to return to the Senate on the ticket of his new party. Time will tell whether he will succeed or not, likewise the rest of his colleagues.