The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, on Monday, said he was playing the role of a father without favouritism to all politicians vying for elective offices in 2027.

Abubakar disclosed this while receiving the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his palace in Sokoto.

The NDC flag bearer and his running mate were accompanied to the Sultan’s palace by the party’s Sokoto State governorship candidate, Dr Shamsu Haido, among other party faithful.

The visit, which formed part of the delegation’s political engagements and consultations with traditional and community leaders, came two weeks after the 2027 All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, led by the council’s Director-General, Senator Abdul-Aziz Abubakar Yari, visited the monarch.

The APC PCC visited the Sultan on Monday, September 14, 2026, alongside the Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmed Aliyu, his counterparts from Kebbi and Zamfara states, among other members.

However, a statement signed by Prince Bashir Adefaka on behalf of the Media Team of the Sultan of Sokoto quoted the monarch as saying:

“In continuation of his commitment to providing himself as a father figure to all Nigerians aspiring to political offices in 2027 without favouritism, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, on Monday, September 28, 2026, received the presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, respectively, in his palace in Sokoto City, Sokoto State.”

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected claims by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that some of its candidates from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara states have defected to the ruling party.

The ADC described the people recently presented by the APC as alleged defectors as individuals who do not hold any recognised position in the opposition party.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the APC had wrongly attached the party’s name and identities to people who were neither its candidates nor leaders.

“These people are not our candidates,” the party said.

“The APC should tell Nigerians which ADC positions these individuals held, the constituencies they represented and when they occupied those positions,” the ADC challenged.

The party also criticised the manner in which the APC announced the alleged defections, saying the ruling party could receive anyone at its secretariat but should not present such individuals to Nigerians as ADC candidates without evidence.

“The APC cannot assemble random individuals at its secretariat, confer imaginary ADC credentials on them and then announce their defection,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC further dismissed the APC’s explanation that the alleged defectors were attracted by what it described as the administration’s transformation of Northern Nigeria.

It questioned the claim against the backdrop of rising food prices, insecurity and increasing pressure on household incomes.

The party said Nigerians were more interested in seeing concrete improvements in their living conditions than political events and photographs of alleged defectors.

“Nigerians are asking for evidence of better lives; the APC is manufacturing photographs and congratulating itself,” the ADC said.

The opposition party maintained that political claims should be supported by verifiable records.

It insisted that the APC should provide evidence to show that the people it presented were actually ADC candidates or officials before claiming they had defected.