The governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress in the seven Northwest states have promised to pay a minimum wage of N110,000 and set up 21 specialist hospitals if they win the 2027 elections.
The candidates made these promises on Wednesday while signing the Northwest ADC Governorship Candidates’ Compact 2027, 2031 at the Yar’adua Centre in Abuja. This agreement outlines a common plan for security, development, and shared prosperity in the region.
As part of the pact, the candidates also promised to declare emergencies in insecurity and education. They plan to use drones and technology for surveillance to fight banditry and create a Northwest Regional Security Coordination Centre.
Abubakar Malami, who is the ADC governorship candidate for Kebbi State and a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, read the statement after the signing. He said the candidates have agreed on a regional covenant focused on improving security, development, and shared prosperity.
He said, “We, the Governorship Candidates of the African Democratic Congress for Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara States, having this day adopted and signed the Northwest ADC Governorship Candidates’ Compact 2027, 2031, address this declaration directly to the people of the Northwest as our Regional Covenant for Security, Development, and Shared Prosperity.
“Our region is crisis-ridden. Over 16,000 lives have been lost due to insecurity between June 2023 and August 2026. More than 1,583 kidnapping cases since January 2023 have taken over 10,000 of our people from their homes and farms. Tens of thousands of households have been displaced, and over 533,000 hectares of farmland in Zamfara and Katsina are now abandoned. Our region also has 45 percent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children.
“Insecurity has emptied our farms, leading to hunger, pushing our children out of school, and denying them the education needed to stop the recruitment of future bandits. Our commitment is to change governance to respond better and effectively to end this cycle of crisis and bring back peace and security to our region.
“Our states and local governments received over ₦8.33 trillion in federal allocations between June 2023 and August 2026. Still, these funds have not led to better roads, affordable food and healthcare, or improved schools and living conditions for our people. We will work to change this and ensure public resources bring real improvements to our citizens' lives. We commit to reforming responsibly, providing relief with accountability, and fostering growth that benefits our citizens.
ADC governorship candidates accused the APC-led administrations in the Northwest of massive theft, saying the region has little to show for development, infrastructure, and security.
They also claimed that governors live in luxury while citizens suffer in poverty. They pointed to lavish government houses, expensive cars, and private jet travels. They promised to run their administrations differently if elected in 2027.
He added, “The removal of fuel subsidy by the APC-led Federal Government has pushed the masses of our zone into severe poverty. Households that were already struggling are now living in extreme hardship. The supposed benefits of removing the subsidy have not improved their daily lives.
“We, the ADC Governorship Candidates of the seven Northwest States, fully support the ADC Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore the subsidy to help our people escape deeper poverty.
“We promise to implement a minimum wage of ₦110,000 for workers across all seven states in the Northwest when elected. We will not give up the constitutional authority of our individual states or ignore the unique needs of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara. Each of us will be responsible for our own budgets, procurement, civil service, state education, and health systems, land administration, internally generated revenue, state agriculture, and infrastructure.
“But where our people’s issues cross our borders, we commit to work together to solve them. We will coordinate our security efforts. We will hold ourselves to shared standards. We will pool resources where it makes sense. We will open cross-border trade, share information, build joint infrastructure, and speak with one voice for our region.
The ADC candidates in the Northwest promised to base their cooperation on security, governance that focuses on the people, and responsible reforms, with development and citizens’ welfare as their main goals.
They also vowed to create technology-based surveillance and rapid-response networks across the region’s 21 senatorial districts, including using drones and setting up a Northwest Regional Security Coordination Centre to improve early warning and response to security threats.
The statement included, “We will ensure more land is farmed safely, and strengthen our food security through protected agricultural corridors, organized livestock production, agro-processing, a regional grain reserve, and irrigation rehabilitation.
“On Education and Human Capital, we will declare an emergency on education, secure full UBEC access, integrate Almajiri and Tsangaya children into formal schools, support girls’ school attendance, and build a reliable system for teacher recruitment and training, as well as bring back out-of-school children.
“We will ensure full access to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, improve primary health care centers, expand midwife services, telemedicine, and community health insurance. We will set up one specialist hospital in each senatorial district.
“We will prioritize regional infrastructure such as roads, railways, independent power generation, solar power for public facilities, water systems, and the logistics needed for our trade.
Besides Malami, other ADC candidates who signed the pact included Manir Mohammad Dan’iya of Sokoto, Sabo Mohammed Nakudu of Jigawa, and Bilyaminu Yusuf Shinkafi of Zamfara.
The Katsina candidate, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, was represented by his deputy, Aminu Yar’adua Ahmed. Kaduna candidate Isa Mohammed Ashiru was represented by his deputy, Kantiok Irmiya Ishaku. Kano candidate Ibrahim Ali Amin was also represented by his deputy, Sabo Mohammed Nakudu.
The North-West geopolitical zone, one of Nigeria’s most populated areas, faces serious challenges in economy, security, healthcare, and education.
With the Independent National Electoral Commission starting the 2027 governorship campaign on September 9, these issues and more are expected to be hot topics in political discussions across the region.
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