Isa Ali Abdullahi

Ali Abdullahi Isa (INEC prints the name as Isa Ali Abdullahi; age 54 on the list; Nigerian press uses Ali Isa Abdullahi and Ali Abdullahi Isa) is the All Progressives Congress deputy governorship candidate in Borno State, running mate to Mustapha Gubio, for the election of 6 February 2027 (INEC final list, 10 October 2026). He comes from Biu local government area in southern Borno, the zone from which Borno's deputy governors have traditionally come. A career civil servant, he began as an audit assistant in 1991, rose to chief administrative officer (audit) and was posted to Government House in 2017 as assistant director of administration. He became director of research and statistics at the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and was appointed its acting director-general by Governor Babagana Zulum on 29 January 2025; he is described as director-general in March 2025, February 2026 and June 2026, and in July 2026 Vanguard calls him the director-general of SEMA before his nomination. Zulum said on 8 July 2026 that the choice of running mate rested with Gubio and that 27 people had shown interest; by 18 July 2026 the Emir of Biu, district heads and Southern Borno stakeholders were endorsing Isa's nomination at a meeting presided over by Zulum in Maiduguri, and the Emir dismissed claims that he is not an indigene of Biu. Some Southern Borno critics objected to how the pick was made. No earlier election contest, court case or investigation involving him was found.