Kano State Police have arrested the orderly of Zainab Musa Kwankwaso, the second wife of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, and other individuals in connection with her reported departure from the Kano Government House.
Zainab, the daughter of former Kano State Governor and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, reportedly left the Government House on October 28, 2026, without the knowledge of her assigned police orderly or other security escorts. Sources said she first went to her father’s residence on Miller Road in Kano before boarding a flight to Abuja.
Her orderly reportedly became suspicious and alerted superiors at the Government House, who informed the governor. Airport security officials were initially directed not to allow her to board, but she was eventually permitted to travel amid concerns that stopping her could cause a public scene.
Kano State Commissioner of Police Dr. Ibrahim Adamu Bakori ordered an investigation into how she left the heavily secured Government House. Security personnel assigned to her quarters and those attached to Kwankwaso’s Miller Road residence were arrested, questioned, and later released. Zainab’s elder brother, Ado Kwankwaso, and her sister were also reportedly invited for questioning, with some sources alleging pressure to charge Ado with kidnapping — claims that remain unconfirmed.
The development coincides with reports that Zainab has filed for divorce at the Upper Area Court in Gudu, Abuja. Court documents obtained by media outlets show a civil suit (reference CV/97/26) in which she is seeking dissolution of the marriage through khul’i, an Islamic procedure under which a wife may initiate separation, often by returning the dowry. She has offered to refund the dowry paid at the time of the marriage. The court has summoned Governor Yusuf to appear on November 17, 2026.
In her particulars of claim, Zainab cited a prolonged breakdown of the marriage characterised by a lack of reciprocal care, love, affection, and emotional connection. She stated that she had lost affection for the governor and that efforts at reconciliation had failed.
The couple married on July 29, 2006, when Zainab was serving as an aide to her father. Their union has produced six children.
The personal developments come against the backdrop of a public political fallout between Governor Yusuf and his former political mentor and father-in-law, Senator Kwankwaso. Yusuf, who won the 2023 governorship election on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) with Kwankwaso’s strong backing, later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The rift, which sources say began about a year ago, is widely believed to have strained family relations.
Neither Governor Yusuf nor Senator Kwankwaso has issued an official public statement on the matter as of Saturday, November 14, 2026. The Kano State Commissioner for Information, Sanusi Dawakin Tofa, did not respond to media inquiries seeking the governor’s reaction.
Police investigations into the circumstances of Zainab’s departure from Government House are ongoing.
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