The denial, issued August 8, 2026, matters because it exposes a split inside the state party just as candidate lists are being finalized for next year's general elections. A faction loyal to embattled PDP National Chairman Kabiru Turaki claims otherwise, and the two camps are now offering the public contradictory accounts of who speaks for the party in Kebbi.

Kebbi State PDP Chairman Usman Bello Suru issued a special announcement dated August 8, 2026, calling reports of an APC endorsement "false and baseless." He said the party remains intact under his leadership. "The PDP in Kebbi State is one and united. It is in full harmony with all its candidates that will contest in the upcoming election," Suru said.

His statement responds directly to claims made a day earlier. On Saturday in Birnin Kebbi, associates of Turaki announced that a faction loyal to the national chairman had endorsed Governor Idris as its sole candidate for the 2027 governorship race. Idris currently governs Kebbi under the APC banner, not the PDP.

That distinction is the center of the dispute. An opposition party faction endorsing a sitting governor from the ruling party would functionally cede the governorship race before it starts. Suru's statement rejects that outcome outright, but it does not name the specific individuals from Turaki's camp who made Saturday's announcement, nor does it address them by name anywhere in the text reviewed.

The candidate list as evidence

Suru's rebuttal leans on numbers rather than rhetoric alone. He said the PDP has fielded candidates for the State House of Assembly in all 21 local government areas of Kebbi State. He said the party also has candidates for the House of Representatives across all eight federal constituencies in the state, and for the Senate in all three senatorial districts, in addition to a governorship candidate.

Suru did not name that governorship candidate in the statement. Nor did he name any of the Assembly, House or Senate candidates individually. The claim of full ballot coverage is presented as proof of institutional health, but it remains unverified against any public candidate register cited in the documents available.

Suru framed the completeness of that list as the core evidence against the endorsement claim. "The PDP's candidates across the various elective positions demonstrate that the PDP remains a fully established and independent political party in Kebbi State," he said, according to the announcement.

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A party chairman under pressure nationally

The dispute in Kebbi cannot be separated from Turaki's standing at the national level. He is described in the reporting as "embattled," though the specific nature of the challenge to his national chairmanship, whether legal, internal or both, is not detailed in the documents reviewed here. What is clear is that a faction claiming loyalty to him acted in Kebbi State on Saturday without, according to Suru, any authority to do so.

Suru was direct about that lack of authority. He said those spreading what he called rumours "had no control over the affairs of the PDP in Kebbi State." That is a factional claim, not a settled legal one, and no court filing or INEC determination on which faction controls the Kebbi PDP structure is cited in the material available.

Suru also called on party members to move past the dispute. He urged them to focus on "uniting the people and strengthening the party," a message aimed at supporters rather than at Turaki's associates directly.

What remains unresolved

The Independent National Electoral Commission has not been cited in either camp's public statements as having ruled on which faction, Suru's or Turaki's, holds legitimate authority over the Kebbi State PDP's candidate submissions. That determination will matter far more than dueling press statements once formal nomination deadlines arrive ahead of the 2027 polls.

Neither Turaki nor the named associates who announced the Idris endorsement in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday have issued a public response to Suru's August 8 denial as of this writing. Until INEC's candidate list for Kebbi State is finalized, or one faction produces documentary proof, a court order, a party congress resolution, a signed delegate register, of its authority, the question of who actually controls the PDP's governorship ticket in Kebbi remains open.