Former Kano State Governor and Senator, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has directed associates serving in Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration who’re reportedly going through strain over the governor’s deliberate defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to align with the transfer, in what he described as a step to ease mounting rigidity within the state.
Kwankwaso made the comment in a brief video message shared on Fb on Tuesday by his media aide, Saifullahi Hassan, amid experiences of rising political pressure between the previous governor and his long-time protégé.
Governor Yusuf’s alleged plan to hitch the APC has reportedly widened cracks inside the ruling construction in Kano, with Kwankwaso resisting calls emigrate alongside him.
Within the video dated January 13, 2026, Kwankwaso mentioned he returned to Kano and was greeted with troubling experiences that council chairmen, councillors, secretaries, and different officeholders had been being compelled to submit written declarations on the place their loyalty lies.
He described the alleged growth as unfair and able to sparking deeper political division.
“Right this moment, thirteenth January 2026, I arrived in our blessed state of Kano… particularly the coverage forcing council chairmen, councillors, secretaries, and different workplace holders to put in writing down who they’re siding with, Kwankwasiyya or Gandujiyya. That is fairly unlucky,” he mentioned.
Makes an attempt to acquire official response from the Kano State Authorities had been unsuccessful because the Commissioner for Info, Ibrahim Waiya, didn’t reply to calls, whereas the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature, was additionally unreachable as of the time of reporting.
Kwankwaso, the chief of the Kwankwasiyya Motion, recalled the group’s years of political rebuilding earlier than its return to energy in 2023, crediting grassroots mobilisation for the victory that introduced Yusuf’s administration to workplace.
He mentioned the mission of the motion was to ship higher governance, with emphasis on training, job creation, infrastructure and welfare.
“We exercised persistence and waited for 2023, when folks got here out with even stronger willpower and voted for the current administration… with the hope of getting a greater life,” he acknowledged.
Describing Kano’s political contest in stark phrases, Kwankwaso framed the present alignments as a wrestle between two opposing paths, insisting the motion’s guiding ideas should not be compromised.
“Our motion is such that if you’re in it, you’ll comply with its blueprint. However in case you deviate, you’ll have to defect from it,” he mentioned.
He additionally recounted the choice course of that produced native authorities chairmen and councillors in the course of the 2023 elections, noting {that a} committee he chaired dealt with the train with the involvement of key get together and authorities figures.
In accordance with him, nervousness has intensified amongst elected officers and appointees since discussions of defection to the APC gained momentum.
Kwankwaso claimed a number of officers had reached out to him, complaining of intimidation and emotional misery, as political strain allegedly mounted on them to take a aspect.
“Many LG chairmen referred to as me… likewise some councillors… many state meeting members intimated me in regards to the scenario… a few of them having sleepless nights,” he mentioned, including that some had been reportedly ill because of the strain.
In response, Kwankwaso mentioned he had consulted stakeholders and determined to permit these feeling threatened — together with council chairmen, councillors, and different political officeholders — to briefly declare loyalty to the governor as a way to keep secure and keep away from escalation.
He described the transfer as a sensible step to calm the environment whereas the broader political battle forward of 2027 stays undefined.
“We all know that each one the primary politicking for 2027 has not even began but. Our supporters needs to be on standby… I imagine this can assist douse rigidity within the state,” he acknowledged.
Kwankwaso additionally used the chance to reward his political allies for remaining dedicated, regardless of what he described as repeated makes an attempt to lure them away over the past three years with guarantees that had been by no means honoured.
He additional thanked Governor Yusuf for not too long ago acknowledging the achievements of his administration and criticising previous governance failures within the state.
In the meantime, a Kano-based political analyst, Dr Kabiru Sufi, described Kwankwaso’s directive as a calculated long-term transfer geared toward preserving the power of the Kwankwasiyya base whereas permitting flexibility for loyalists navigating rapid political strain.
Sufi argued that even when extra officers transfer with Yusuf to the APC, the general public could interpret it as short-term positioning slightly than a collapse of Kwankwaso’s help construction.
“It’s a strategic transfer to create flexibility inside the motion… Kwankwaso has basically allowed his supporters the freedom to navigate strain whereas nonetheless preserving the choice to comply with his management sooner or later,” the analyst mentioned.