A former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kaduna State, Isa Ashiru, has secured the governorship ticket of the African Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 general election.

Ashiru, who previously contested the Kaduna governorship election under the PDP in 2019 and 2023, emerged victorious after polling 86,113 votes in the party’s primary election.

Former Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Jafaru Sani, finished second with 29,580 votes.

Other contestants in the exercise included former Commissioner for Education under Governor Uba Sani’s administration, Professor Muhammad San-Bello, who scored 13,559 votes, Ahmed Tijjani with 13,550 votes, and Shuaibu Mikati, who polled 10,819 votes.

Ashiru represented Makarfi/Kudan Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives before contesting for governor under the PDP platform.

He was defeated by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai in the 2019 governorship election and later lost to incumbent Governor Uba Sani in the 2023 poll after securing 719,000 votes.

Meanwhile, some aspirants contesting for seats in the House of Representatives under the ADC platform have rejected the outcome of the party’s primaries in the state.

Speaking at a press conference, the leader of the aggrieved aspirants, Samaila Makarfi, described the exercise as flawed and unacceptable, alleging irregularities in the conduct of the primaries.

The dissatisfied aspirants called on the party leadership to review the process and address their concerns.