(Bloomberg) -- Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Nigeria's northern state of Kano, will seek to oust President Muhammadu Buhari in elections scheduled for February.
Kwankwaso, who's now a senator, will announce on Aug. 29 that he will compete to become the presidential candidate for the main opposition People's Democratic Party, which will hold primaries later this year, his spokeswoman, Binta Spikin, said by phone Sunday.
The 61-year-old was among several lawmakers who defected from Buhari's All Progressives Congress in July. Other prominent figures have also said they may bid for the PDP's presidential ticket, including former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and Bukola Saraki, the head of the senate.
Read More: Nigerian Senate Head Says He's Mulling Running for President
Buhari, 75, is seeking a second term after becoming the first opposition candidate to win power at the ballot box in Africa's biggest oil producer in 2015. The APC, formed after several opposition groups merged, unseated the PDP, which had ruled since 1999. But APC's cohesion has been strained by a lackluster economic recovery following the 2014 oil-price crash and a rise in communal clashes across parts of the country.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Wallace in Lagos at pwallace25@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, Rob Verdonck
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