The National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barrister Murtala Aliyu Kankia, has been drafted into the ruling party’s 2027 Presidential Campaign command as Secretary, Legal, placing the party’s top legal officer at a critical point of its electoral strategy as the race for the presidency gathers momentum.
Kankia’s appointment is part of the APC’s newly constituted 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, which is being assembled to coordinate the party’s political, legal, mobilisation, security and communication operations ahead of the general elections.
The development gives the APC’s legal machinery a direct role in the presidential campaign, with APC National Legal Chief expected to coordinate legal affairs and provide strategic counsel as the party takes its campaign into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
- Advertisement -
The appointment also comes as the APC intensifies preparations for the 2027 presidential contest, with former Zamfara State Governor Senator Abdulaziz Yari named Director-General of the campaign council and other senior party figures assigned key operational responsibilities.
Kankia’s appointment is significant because he already occupies the office of National Legal Adviser, making him one of the principal officers responsible for the APC’s legal affairs.
His elevation into the Presidential campaign structure creates a direct bridge between the party’s permanent legal machinery and its election campaign apparatus.
For the campaign, the legal desk is expected to provide guidance on compliance, campaign activities, electoral regulations, political advertising, disputes and other legal risks that could emerge as the contest progresses.
The role could become particularly important in the post-election period, when electoral disputes and litigation traditionally become a major component of Nigeria’s political contests.
36 states, FCT legal challenge
With the APC presidential campaign expected to operate nationwide across 36 states and the FCT, the scale of Kankia’s assignment will extend far beyond Abuja.
The campaign council will have to coordinate rallies, political meetings, stakeholder engagements and grassroots activities across thousands of communities while ensuring that campaign operations remain within the framework of applicable electoral laws.
National Legal Adviser task will therefore involve more than routine legal advice.
He will be positioned to help the campaign anticipate legal exposure, coordinate responses to disputes and ensure that campaign officials and structures operate within the rules governing the electoral process.
Kankia’s appointment is coming alongside a broader restructuring of the APC’s presidential campaign machinery.
Yari, a former Governor and Senator, has emerged as the campaign’s Director-General, while senior party figures have been assigned responsibilities across key operational departments.
The emerging structure points to a campaign architecture built around distinct areas of responsibility from security and intelligence to legal affairs, political mobilisation and communications.
The APC’s official website confirms that Professor Nentawe Yilwatda remains the party’s National Chairman following the March 2026 national convention.
Recent reports have also identified Kankia as the APC National Legal Adviser and linked him to the new campaign council’s legal secretariat.
For the ruling party, the appointment signals an effort to build its legal defence before the political contest reaches its peak.
The 2027 election will generate a wide range of potential legal questions from campaign compliance and party procedures to electoral disputes and challenges arising from voting and declaration of results.
APC National Legal Adviser dual position therefore gives the APC an experienced legal hand within the campaign’s central command while retaining institutional knowledge of the party’s own rules and structures.
His assignment could also require close coordination with party officials, campaign leaders, electoral stakeholders and legal teams across the country.
The appointment underscores the changing nature of modern political campaigns, where electoral victories increasingly depend not only on rallies and grassroots mobilisation but also on legal preparedness, data, communications, security and rapid response.
APC National Legal Adviser role is consequently expected to provide the legal backbone for the APC’s 2027 presidential campaign as the party moves to translate its political structure into a nationwide electoral machine.
With less than five months to the scheduled January 2027 presidential election, the ruling party is now assembling the operational pieces of its campaign, placing experienced hands in specialised positions ahead of what is expected to be a fiercely contested presidential race.
For Kankia, the new assignment effectively shifts his legal responsibilities from the APC’s national secretariat to the frontline of the party’s presidential campaign where legal strategy could prove as consequential as political mobilisation itself.
