By Danjuma Amodu
Family rift widens as Abdulaziz Ganduje seeks Reps seat on Kwankwasiyya platform, years after brother’s APC loss in same constituency.
In a fresh twist to Kano’s deepening political feud, Abdulaziz, son of former APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje, has publicly aligned with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s camp and obtained a nomination form to contest the same House of Representatives seat his brother lost in 2023.
Abdulaziz is widely regarded as a loyal ally of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and has remained politically aligned with the Kwankwasiyya movement for several years.
A viral video circulating online showed Abdulaziz in discussion with Kwankwaso shortly after obtaining the nomination form, where he reportedly briefed the former Kano governor on his political ambition and readiness for the contest ahead of the forthcoming elections.
The move sharpens the long-running rivalry between Ganduje and Kwankwaso — two Kano heavyweights whose alliance collapsed years after jointly steering the state’s politics.
Although his father held strategic positions within the APC, Abdulaziz has stayed politically distant from Ganduje’s camp and consistently identified with the Kwankwasiyya movement. His break with the family’s political base grew more visible after he petitioned his mother, Hafsat Umar Ganduje, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over an alleged failed agreement.
Abdulaziz is now seeking the federal constituency seat previously contested by his brother, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, who ran on the APC platform in 2023 but lost to a New Nigeria Peoples Party candidate despite their father serving as governor at the time.
The development is expected to redraw political lines in Kano ahead of future elections, particularly within the Kwankwasiyya movement and the state’s opposition bloc.
