Former Kano State governor and ex–APC national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, has called on his successor, Governor Abba Yusuf, to prioritise governance over what he described as “political theatrics”, after the Kano government urged security agencies to arrest him for allegedly inciting unrest.
The clash marks another escalation in Kano’s increasingly fraught political atmosphere, with Ganduje, his wife Hafsat and six others currently facing an 11-count corruption charge before a state high court. The case, adjourned until February 2026, remains a source of sustained political tension in Nigeria’s most populous northern state.
In a briefing after last week’s executive council meeting, the state’s commissioner for information, Ibrahim Wayya, accused Ganduje and deputy senate president Barau Jibrin of making “inciting, reckless” statements suggesting the state was vulnerable to banditry and hinting at plans to recruit 12,000 members into a religious police outfit known as Khairul Nas. The remarks, Wayya said, could undermine ongoing security efforts by both the state and the federal government.
But Ganduje, responding through his chief press secretary Edwin Olofu, dismissed the allegations as “desperation and incompetence”. He accused Yusuf of scapegoating rather than addressing rising insecurity in Bagwai, Shanono, Tsanyawa and other communities, claiming the governor had failed to show empathy to victims.
“It is deeply unfortunate that rather than addressing escalating insecurity, Governor Yusuf has chosen to chase shadows,” Ganduje said, insisting that he has never been linked to violence and pointing to his eight-year tenure as evidence of stability under his watch. Leadership, he added, “is demonstrated through purposeful action, not press conferences and frivolous statements”.
The war of words now runs alongside a corruption case that could define the political futures of both men. On Wednesday, prosecutors requested more time to respond to pending applications, prompting Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu to adjourn proceedings to 3 February 2026.
