Former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Lawal Daura, has been named the running mate of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for the 2027 presidential election, four days after leaving the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Makinde, the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), unveiled Daura on Thursday at the party’s national convention held at Rilwan Adamu Square in Bauchi.
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Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said in a statement that Makinde described the selection of the former intelligence chief as a deliberate decision to address Nigeria’s security challenges.
According to the statement, Makinde said Daura, who headed the SSS from 2015 to 2018 under late President Muhammadu Buhari, was selected because of the security challenges that Nigeria faces.
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The governor also pledged that, if elected, he would work with like-minded politicians to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
Mr Daura’s emergence as the running mate represents a rapid political transition for the former intelligence chief, who until recently was seeking to govern Katsina, his home state.
From governorship to VP race
Daura left the ADC for the APM on Sunday, blaming what he described as injustice and weak leadership within his former party.
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His departure followed disagreements over the process through which the ADC selected candidates for the 2027 elections in Katsina.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in June that Daura rejected the party’s candidate-selection process and insisted that he remained committed to his governorship ambition.
At the time, he argued that candidates should emerge either through a properly conducted consensus arrangement or a primary election. He warned that legal action or political realignment remained possible if the dispute was not resolved.
The ADC national leadership acknowledged complaints about its nationwide primary exercise, but defended its overall credibility.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, also told PREMIUM TIMES then that no official Katsina governorship result had been announced because appeals arising from the exercise were still pending.
The dispute was complicated by competing structures within the Katsina ADC. A PREMIUM TIMES analysis in June documented rival camps claiming legitimacy and conducting parallel congresses and primaries.
In an analysis published on Tuesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Daura, during an interview with DCL Hausa, denied that he had joined the APM because he had been offered a particular ticket.
Asked what role he would play in his new party, the former intelligence chief urged the interviewer to wait for further developments.
Two days later, he was unveiled as Makinde’s vice-presidential candidate.
The development marks a significant leap from the governorship bid Daura had pursued earlier in the year.
Security central to Daura’s politics
Daura first publicly declared his intention to challenge Gov Radda for the Katsina governorship in January, presenting insecurity as one of his principal reasons for entering the race.
In an interview with DCL Hausa, which PREMIUM TIMES then monitored, he criticised Radda’s handling of insecurity and accused the state government of politicising the security crisis.
He argued that Katsina needed a different approach to tackling banditry and said failure to secure the state undermined achievements in other sectors.
Later that month, Daura formally declared his ambition for the governorship on the ADC platform during a political mobilisation event in Katsina.
Makinde is now citing his background in intelligence as one of the reasons for selecting him for the national ticket.
Daura’s SSS years
Daura’s tenure as director-general of the SSS ended abruptly on 7 August, 2018, after armed and masked SSS operatives blocked entrances to the National Assembly in Abuja, preventing lawmakers, staff, and others from entering the complex.
Then-Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered Daura’s immediate dismissal after the incident.
The presidency subsequently said Buhari and Osinbajo agreed to the dismissal.
A subsequent police report accused Daura of acting without authorisation in connection with the NASS blockade. PREMIUM TIMES reported that the police described the operation as a violation of the Constitution.
Daura’s selection now places a former intelligence chief who began 2026 seeking the Katsina governorship on the APM presidential ticket as the party positions itself ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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