Hayatu-Deen Picks N100 Million ADC Presidential Form Becoming First Official 2027 Aspirant

Muhammad Hayatu-Deen has made history as the first person to officially pick the African Democratic Congress presidential nomination form ahead of the 2027 general elections, paying the N100 million required to purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms and formally declaring his intention to contest the party's presidential ticket.

Hayatu-Deen, a former Managing Director of FSB International Bank and a one-time governorship aspirant in Kano State, made the declaration on Friday May 8 after collecting the forms from the ADC national secretariat. His emergence as the ADC's first declared presidential aspirant adds a new dimension to the 2027 opposition landscape which has been increasingly focused on the ADC as a potential vehicle for the consolidated opposition challenge against President Bola Tinubu.

Who Is Muhammad Hayatu-Deen

Hayatu-Deen is a northern Nigerian business and finance professional with a long career in banking and investment. He previously ran for the governorship of Kano State and has been an active voice in national economic and political discourse over many years. His decision to enter the 2027 presidential race through the ADC reflects a calculation that the party, without the baggage of recent electoral losses, offers a cleaner pathway for building a fresh coalition capable of challenging the APC.

He stated that Nigerian small businesses were struggling to survive and that the country needed leadership that understood the economic realities facing ordinary citizens. He described the current administration's economic management as one that had placed disproportionate burdens on working-class Nigerians while failing to deliver the structural improvements that economic reform was supposed to produce.

The ADC and the 2027 Picture

The ADC has become the most discussed party in Nigerian opposition circles since the Ibadan summit of opposition leaders in April. Several prominent politicians have been exploring the party as a potential platform for a unified 2027 presidential challenge. Hayatu-Deen's early declaration puts him on the record as the party's first formal aspirant. The party primary is scheduled and the window for additional aspirants to pick forms remains open.