Ganduje’s Long Fall from the Top of Kano Politics 

There was a time when Abdullahi Ganduje did not need to share power in Kano, being first governor, then APC National Chairman; the undisputed face of party authority in the state.

Ganduje’s resignation as National Chairman in June 2025 was the first real crack. It cost him control over party primaries and structures nationwide, the kind of influence that decides who gets nominated for what, everywhere in the country. What followed was a soft landing, the chairmanship of the FAAN governing board, a role that keeps him inside government without giving him any of the leverage he once held.

Back home in Kano, the picture is not as put-together. Senator Barau Jibrin, now Deputy Senate President, outranks him in raw political terms. He is the highest elected officeholder Kano currently has in Abuja. Loyalists have noticed, and many have shifted accordingly. A ceasefire between the two men was briefly held, then collapsed by February 2026, with both factions holding separate, competing meetings in Kano Municipal.

Then Ibrahim Shekarau returned to the APC in April, bringing his own G-7 following with him. Shekarau and Barau previously fought Ganduje’s leadership together in 2022. Their reunion inside the same party now means Ganduje is no longer the man in charge.

Adding to the pressure, Ganduje is currently standing trial alongside seven others over alleged misappropriation of public funds, a case adjourned to October 14, 2026. He still shuttles between Abuja and Kano, still holds consultations, and still appears in headlines.

But where before the headlines described him as a commander of states and destinies, they now pitch him as a sun in piteous decline. From governor to chairman to factional player contested by his own former allies, Ganduje’s apparent slide is a long one.