Kwankwaso’s niece files to divorce Kano Governor – Report

Zainab Kwankwaso, a niece of former Kano State governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) vice-presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso, has approached an Abuja court seeking a divorce from her husband, Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf.

According to Daily Nigerian, Zainab—who is the governor’s second wife—filed for divorce at the Upper Area Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, seeking the dissolution of their 20-year marriage.

A civil summons, with reference number CV/97/26, has ordered Governor Yusuf to appear before the court on 17 November.

Zainab married Governor Yusuf in July, 2006, while he was serving as a personal aide to her uncle, Mr Kwankwaso. The union has produced six children.

Zainab is a daughter to late Mr Kwankwaso’s elder brother, Dahiru Kwankwaso, who died in an accident in 1985 on the Kano Kaduna expressway.

The Kano State Government is yet to commend on the development.

But an official familiar with the incident confided in PREMIUM TIMES that Zainab was taken away two weeks ago from her matrimonial home.

The divorce filing comes on the heel of a major political realignment in Kano State that fractured one of Northern Nigeria’s most influential political alliances.

It remains unclear whether the divorce petition is connected to the political developments in Kano State, following Governor Yusuf’s decision in January to sever ties with his longtime political mentor, Mr Kwankwaso, and defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

For over two decades, Mr Yusuf was one of Mr Kwankwaso’s closest allies and a central figure in the Kwankwasiyya political movement.

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Governor Yusuf served as Mr Kwankwaso’s personal assistant and later as Commissioner of Works during Mr Kwankwaso’s second term as governor (2011–2015) before winning the 2023 Kano governorship election.

In January, Governor Yusuf broke ranks with Mr Kwankwaso and defected from the NNPP to the APC, citing the need to align Kano State with the federal government.

The move triggered a bitter power struggle over control of Kano’s political machinery and state structures.