Daura APC stakeholders back Radda’s re-election, seen as shaping Buhari’s legacy – Chieftain 

Stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Daura Local Government Area of Katsina State have unanimously endorsed Governor Dikko Umaru Radda for a second term in office, declaring that the area will not support any other political party in the 2027 general elections.

The endorsement was announced on Monday in Daura during a stakeholders’ meeting where Ahmad Elmarzuq, the former APC National Legal Adviser, said abandoning the party would amount to betraying the legacy of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari who hails from Daura and one of the founding leaders of the APC.

He asked, why should Daura turn its back on a party so closely tied to Buhari’s political identity? And what message would it send if, less than a year after his death, his home base abandoned the platform he remained loyal to until his last days?

Elmarzuq stressed that APC’s roots in Daura run deep, noting that the party was first formally identified with the town under Buhari’s leadership.

“Endorsing Radda’s re-election was not just a political decision but a symbolic act aimed at preserving Buhari’s legacy.

“For Daura APC stakeholders to endorse Radda’s re-election would be seen as shaping Buhari’s legacy. His death is not up to a year, and the only legacy he left is for us to honour him even in death,” Elmarzuq said.

He added that all stakeholders present had agreed to back Governor Radda for a second term extending to 2031, insisting that any form of defection from the APC would not serve the interests of the people of Daura. “If our father never denied his party membership until his demise, why should we now deny that legacy?” he noted.

Also speaking at the meeting, Nasir Yahya Daura, the Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, said the local government had benefited significantly from what he described as the “dividends of democracy” under Radda’s administration within less than two years.

He further asked how many local governments could boast of such attention and development within such a short period? Noting that “and Daura should not reciprocate with loyalty at the polls? In all the 34 local government areas of the State, Daura happens to be among those that have enjoyed the privileges of democracy,

“All of us here in Daura want to announce to the whole world that we have unanimously endorsed Dikko Umar Radda for a second term in 2027. We don’t have any candidate nor any party except APC in Daura local government area and by extension in Katsina and Nigeria as a whole,” Nasir stated.

The endorsement is not unconnected with the recent political development involving a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, who recently decamped from the APC to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and declared his intention to contest the Katsina governorship seat in 2027.

With Lawal Daura who is also from Daura local government area, could the stakeholders Monday’s endorsement be a direct response to Lawal defection? And is the move aimed at drawing a clear political line between loyalty to Buhari’s legacy and emerging opposition ambitions ahead of 2027?

For now, Daura APC stakeholders appear determined to send a strong signal their political allegiance remains firmly with the APC and Governor Dikko Umar Radda.