The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, has confirmed that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, signed a written agreement with him to serve only a single tenure of four years and allow power to return to the North if elected president in 2027.

Kwankwaso disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, saying the agreement was aimed at ensuring power returns to the North after a single four-year tenure in line with the party’s power-sharing arrangement.

The former Kano State governor said he had no reason to doubt Obi’s commitment to honouring the agreement.

“Oh yes, I personally believe him. I don’t think, based on what I now know about him, that he will change his mind when the time comes. We are all gentlemen,” he said.

Asked whether the understanding had been documented, Kwankwaso replied that both the party and the two candidates signed separate agreements.

“We have done one for the party, and we have done another one between the two of us,” he said.

Explaining the substance of the agreement, Kwankwaso said it provides for a single four-year tenure for Obi before the presidency returns to the North.

“The agreement is what you said, that for four years, we will work together, team together as a group, party, friends and brothers so that after his term of four years (2027-2031), it comes back to the North. That is the general agreement.”

He said he accepted the vice-presidential slot because both leaders agreed that the South should retain the presidency for only one term before power rotates back to the North.

“Together we felt that the presidency should go to the South for four years; thereafter it will come back to the North.

“We believe that should be the consensus of everybody in this country so that we can move together as a family, both North and South,” he said.

On whether he intends to contest the presidency in 2031, Kwankwaso said the party remained focused on winning the 2027 election while keeping its long-term political plans in view.

“We have a short-term plan which we are executing now and, of course, we also have our medium and long-term plans for the country, and that is what we are working on now,” he said.

Obi had in May announced that he would serve only one term if elected president, saying the decision was intended to promote political stability and strengthen national unity.

“I want to be a one-term president because of stability. I would not stay a day, with a gun to my head, longer than four years,” Obi had said.

The NDC has consistently defended its power-sharing arrangement, presenting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as a consensus aimed at balancing the country’s regional interests ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

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The Peoples Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress have commenced the upload of names of their governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates for the 2027 general elections.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, disclosed that the party commenced the upload process on Saturday.

Also, a senior APC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, told our correspondent that the party would upload only the governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates whose nominations had been cleared by the primary election appeal panel and the National Working Committee.

Earlier, in line with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s timetable, political parties submitted the nomination lists of their presidential and National Assembly candidates between June 27 and July 11, 2026.

The process also included the submission of Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E, as required under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

INEC also fixed the submission of nomination forms for governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates to run from 9:00 a.m. on July 18 to 6:00 p.m. on August 8, 2026.

The timetable further indicates that the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates will be published on August 8, while those of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29.

It also sets August 22 as the deadline for the withdrawal or substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and state House of Assembly candidates have until September 19 to withdraw or be substituted.

When contacted, Bature disclosed that the PDP began uploading its candidates’ details on Saturday, adding that the exercise is ongoing and will be concluded before August 8.

He stated, “The Peoples Democratic Party commenced the upload of its governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates’ details to INEC’s nomination portal on Saturday.

“The exercise has been progressing smoothly without any technical issues, and we are confident that the upload process will be completed well ahead of the deadline.”

Also, the APC source said the party has commenced the upload of its candidates on the INEC portal, with priority given to the 16 incumbent governors seeking re-election.

The 16 incumbent governors expected on the APC list are Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Abba Yusuf of Kano, Dikko Radda of Katsina, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Umaru Bago of Niger, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto, Agbu Kefas of Taraba and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara.

The source also said the party’s governorship list would feature 12 first-time flagbearers, including Obafemi Hamzat (Lagos), Solomon Adeola (Ogun), Kingsley Chinda (Rivers), Eric Opah (Abia), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Mustapha Gubio (Borno), Jamilu Gwamna (Gombe), Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa) and Baba Malam Wali (Yobe).

He stated, “I can confirm that the party commenced the upload process yesterday (Saturday), with priority given to the 16 governors seeking re-election.

“The party has also established a committee headed by Jibrin Bancir, the Principal Private Secretary to the APC National Chairman, to coordinate the smooth transmission of documents and materials required for upload to the INEC portal.

“The committee is responsible for receiving documents from state chairmen, verifying the details, ensuring all requirements are met, and forwarding them to the ICT department for upload.

“The arrangement is aimed at making the process seamless, efficient and timely.

“There could be slight changes to the initial list of candidates, as the primary election appeal committee had reviewed some petitions and submitted its recommendations to the National Working Committee.

“So, only candidates who passed the appeal committee’s review and received the approval of the NWC were uploaded to the INEC portal.

“We are confident that the exercise will be completed before the deadline.”

The PDP, APC and other political parties are expected to upload a total of 28 governorship candidates and 993 state Houses of Assembly candidates nationwide.

Governorship elections will not take place in the eight states of Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun due to off-cycle election schedules.

Earlier, political parties participating in the presidential and National Assembly elections had submitted and uploaded their candidates’ lists on the INEC portal.

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