Katsina has a claim to be Nigeria’s most presidential state. Its first Fourth Republic governor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, went from Government House in Katsina to the presidency in 2007, and Muhammadu Buhari, from Daura in the state’s north, was President from 2015 to 2023. The governorship has followed the national mood: PDP while the PDP ruled in Abuja, APC since Buhari’s victory.
1999 and 2003: Yar’Adua
Yar’Adua, a chemistry lecturer and the younger brother of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, won the January 1999 election for the PDP with 586,681 votes against 286,945 for Junaidu Mamuda Yantumaki of the All People’s Party. In April 2003, with Buhari running for President on the ANPP ticket and drawing strongly at home, Yar’Adua had his hardest race. He held on with 892,340 votes to 742,582 for the ANPP’s Nura Khalil, the closest governorship result in the state’s history. Like most northern governors of the period he introduced sharia criminal law in the state.
In December 2006 President Olusegun Obasanjo picked Yar’Adua as the PDP’s presidential candidate. He won the deeply flawed April 2007 election and died in office in May 2010.
2007 and 2011: Shema
Yar’Adua’s successor as governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, a lawyer and former state attorney-general, won in April 2007 with 1,185,489 votes against 218,302 for the ANPP’s Abu Ibrahim. In April 2011 he beat Aminu Bello Masari, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives running for Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change, by 1,029,912 votes to 555,769.
2015 and 2019: Masari
Masari tried again in 2015 as the APC candidate, with Buhari at the top of the ticket. On 11 April 2015 he won with 943,085 votes against 476,768 for the PDP’s Musa Nashuni. Four years later, in March 2019, he won a second term by 1,178,864 votes (70%) to 488,621 for the PDP’s Senator Garba Yakubu Lado, a margin of 690,243. His second term was dominated by banditry and mass kidnappings, including the abduction of more than 300 schoolboys from Kankara in December 2020.
2023: Radda
Masari’s successor, Dikko Umaru Radda, a former director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), won the APC primary in May 2022. On 18 March 2023 he took 859,892 votes (63%), beating Lado, again the PDP candidate, who polled 486,620.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (PDP) | 586,681 | Junaidu Mamuda Yantumaki (APP) | 286,945 |
| 2003 | Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (PDP) | 892,340 | Nura Khalil (ANPP) | 742,582 |
| 2007 | Ibrahim Shema (PDP) | 1,185,489 | Abu Ibrahim (ANPP) | 218,302 |
| 2011 | Ibrahim Shema (PDP) | 1,029,912 | Aminu Bello Masari (CPC) | 555,769 |
| 2015 | Aminu Bello Masari (APC) | 943,085 | Musa Nashuni (PDP) | 476,768 |
| 2019 | Aminu Bello Masari (APC) | 1,178,864 | Garba Yakubu Lado (PDP) | 488,621 |
| 2023 | Dikko Umaru Radda (APC) | 859,892 | Garba Yakubu Lado (PDP) | 486,620 |
2027: Lado’s third try
Radda is seeking a second term on the APC ticket in the 6 February 2027 election. According to INEC’s final list, Garba Yakubu Lado is the PDP candidate for the third election running, and former senator Ahmad Babba Kaita is running for the ADC. Security in the frontline local governments of the south and west, where bandits have displaced many voters, will again shape turnout.
