Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has appointed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as Deputy Chairman of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections.
El-Rufai’s appointment was announced on Thursday as the ADC unveiled its campaign structure for the presidential election.
The council will be chaired by Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, while Senator Augustine Okwudiri Akobundu was appointed Director-General and Campaign Manager, with responsibility for coordinating the campaign’s political and operational activities across the country.
According to the structure released by the campaign, the council will operate through six major directorates, with Deputy Directors-General and directors assigned specific responsibilities.
Veteran journalist and publisher Dele Momodu will serve as Deputy Director-General of the Media and Communications Directorate, while former Kogi State Senator Dino Melaye will handle Contact and Mobilisation.
Economist and banker Mohammed Hayatudeen will chair the Policy Team, with Professor Kingsley Moghalu and other experts listed among its members.
Former Edo State Governor and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Oyegun, will chair the Campaign Advisory Board. Other senior figures listed in the structure include former Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, former Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha as Senior Campaign Advisers.
The campaign said the structure was designed to be relatively lean, with clearly defined responsibilities for the various directorates and individual appointees.
Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, said the structure was intended to focus the campaign on issues affecting Nigerians, including the cost of living, unemployment, insecurity and declining purchasing power.
El-Rufai, who served as governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, is currently involved in legal proceedings and investigations relating to allegations concerning his tenure as governor. Reports on Thursday said he remains under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over corruption allegations. El-Rufai has denied wrongdoing.
His appointment comes shortly after he publicly addressed his relationship with former associates, saying he bears no hatred or resentment towards people who had distanced themselves from him during his current difficulties.
The former governor said he had supported people and causes because of his values and convictions rather than with an expectation of reciprocity. He also said he had no regrets over those decisions.
The ADC’s announcement places El-Rufai in a senior position within Atiku’s campaign organisation as the party prepares for the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku is contesting the election on the ADC platform, with former Rivers State Governor and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate.
The unveiling of the campaign council marks the formal establishment of the ADC’s presidential campaign machinery and provides the organisational structure through which the party intends to coordinate its activities ahead of the 2027 election.
