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EXCLUSIVE: Kano gov’t seizes Emir Sanusi’s N250m land, pays monarch N4.5m compensation
Dawud Nazifi & Jaafar Jaafar
The Kano State Government has seized a plot of land worth N250 million belonging to the Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II and approved a peanut N4.5 million as compensation to the monarch.
There is crisis between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and the emir, which culminated in whittling the influence of the latter by creation of four additional emirates and first-class emirs in Bichi, Rano, Karaye and Gaya.
A Kano High Court had last week nullified the law that created the emirates and the emirs, triggering fears that the judgement might trigger the simmering crisis.
A joint investigation by DAILY NIGERIAN and KANO FOCUS newspapers revealed that the land, located at Ibrahim Dabo Road, was seized while its fences and other structures were demolished to pave way for the ongoing flyover and underpass bridge being constructed at the Dangi Roundabout area.
Our correspondents report that the seizure and subsequent demolition of structures within the land as well as the fence surrounding the property, was personally supervised by the state Commissioner of Works, Engineer Muaz Magaji, on Friday, 15 November, 2015.
The uncompleted part of the Dangi flyover
Emir Sanusi’s percel of land
Officials of the state land ministry who spoke to our correspondents on the condition of anonymity said the emir purchased the 1.2 hectare land in 2010 at the cost of N200 million.
According to them, the land was recently valued at N250 million at commercial rate, but the state government insisted that payment would be made in accordance with statutory land rate.
It was learnt that Mr Magaji, accompanied by a large group of armed thugs, led other officials of his ministry to Mr Sanusi’s land, where he personally mounted a Grade D9 bulldozer and demolished a section of the fence surrounding the land.
Another view of the Emir’s demolished land plot
Our correspondents gathered that before Mr Magaji embarked on the demolition, he had asked the Emir to send a representative to witness the exercise—a request Mr Sanusi obeyed by sending the district head of Garko to represent him.
According to eyewitnesses, after the commissioner pulled down a sizeable portion of the monarch’s fence in the presence of his representative, he then reportedly ordered the waiting group of armed hoodlums to pillage the facility.
The witnesses added that Mr Magaji also turned around and directed the bulldozer to a collection of shop buildings beside the uncompleted bridge and knocked down a part of the structures, before also reportedly directing the thugs to take their “booty”, saying all compensations have been paid to the owners.
When contacted, the Chief of Staff of to the emir, Munir Sanusi, declined comment on matter, saying the emir had not given him clearance to speak on the matter.
However, palace sources said the emir is yet to receive any payment from the government as compensation for the parcel of land, through which the overhead bridge will pass through.
But in a phone interview with our correspondent, the commissioner claimed that the state government had paid compensation to the emir.
“I can tell you he got the alert. For eight months, this issue has stalled the project, and this project is for public interest.
“We were even hoping that the Emir would give us the land for free to continue with the work. But since he did not give it to us, we decided to engage to services of valuers who valued it according to the statutory land rate because the government does not engage in commercial purchase,” he said.
The commissioner also confirmed that he personally mounted the Grade D9 bulldozer to pull down the said the structures.
He explained that the state government has also paid compensation to all other property owners whose structures were affected by the flyover project.
Umar bin Khattab mosque authorities also cry out
Similarly, Malam Muazu Shuaibu, the Secretary-General of Islamic Foundation—a non-governmental organization which owns the plots of land hosting the shops affected by the bridge project, also accused the state government of snatching their land without due compensation.
Mr Shuaibu explained that the shops were leased out to developers on a Build Operate and Transfer, BOT arrangement for a period of 20 years with the aim of generating funds to maintain the Umar Bin Khattab mosque.
A section of the site where shops near the Dangi flyover were pulled down. The land plots belong to Islamic Foundation–Managers of the Umar Bin Khattab Mosque
Another section where shops were also destroyed
He said officials of the state government had approached them when the bridge project started and told them that an assessment had shown that the work would affect their land.
“They sent valuers to make an assessment on what amount to give to each allotee. But we told them that they cannot proceed with the demolition until payments have been made to the beneficiaries.
“So, they asked us to forward our account numbers but we said no, we cannot forward account numbers until they give the figures they would pay to each allotee.
“After so much delay, the government officials later sent the figures which we shared with our developers before finally submitting account numbers and the government officials asked us to wait for payment,” he said.
Mr Shuaibu said as the Islamic Foundation and the property developers waited for the payment, he received a letter signed by Dahiru A’da’u, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Works, asking for cooperation to acquire the land plots.
“Based on the need for the timely completion of this important project for the benefit of the teeming members of the populace of the state, I write to inform your good office that this ministry has scheduled to acquire the designated portion and continue with the execution of works,” the letter read in part.
“Accordingly, work shall commence in earnest on Friday, 15 November, 2019. It is in the light of the foregoing that I’m soliciting your usual cooperation on the successful, timely completion of the project, which will solve a number of traffic related problems in our great city.”
He further explained that immediately after he received the letter, he had an announcement that compensations have been paid and property owners were given 24 hours to evacuate the shops.
“I contacted the developers to know if any of them had received an alert but all of them said they did not receive alerts. In less than the 24 hours given, the commissioner came personally and started demolishing part of the shops and then asked thugs to take everything they want as booty, claiming that they had paid compensation,” he said.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government says it has executed 1,508 development projects worth more than N928 billion across the state’s 44 local government areas since Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf assumed office, with about 80 per cent of constituency projects awarded between 2023 and 2025 already completed.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Commissioner for Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Comrade Nura Iro Ma’aji Sumaila, disclosed this during an international press briefing on the administration’s infrastructure development programme.
According to Comrade Sumaila, the projects cover critical sectors including roads, urban renewal, education, healthcare, security and other social infrastructure.
He said 799 of the projects have been completed, while 709 are at various stages of execution. He added that the state is also implementing 619 constituency projects through members of the Kano State House of Assembly.
The commissioner noted that about 80 per cent of the constituency projects have been completed. However, he said some projects remain unfinished because of rising construction costs caused by inflation.
He said the government has submitted a request to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for an upward review of contract sums to enable contractors complete the affected projects.
Breakdown of projects
Comrade Sumaila said the administration spent over N169 billion on urban renewal projects, including road rehabilitation, drainage construction and other metropolitan infrastructure.
He said another N118 billion was committed to constructing five-kilometre roads in 38 local government areas to improve connectivity across the state.
According to him, the government also awarded contracts worth over N6.8 billion for the construction of Kano State Neighbourhood Watch security divisions in 36 local government areas.
He added that rural infrastructure projects covering education, healthcare and other social interventions across the 44 local government areas account for contracts valued at more than N397 billion, while other ongoing projects have a combined value of about N255 billion.
Commitment to transparency
The commissioner said the Ministry of Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation would continue to ensure compliance with due process and technical standards in the execution of government projects.
He said the ministry’s mandate includes monitoring projects to ensure value for money and prudent utilisation of public resources.
According to him, the administration’s investments in infrastructure are intended to improve mobility, strengthen security, expand access to education and healthcare, improve water supply and stimulate economic growth across the state.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as the highest-ranked sub-national government in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for education spending, according to the latest Sub-National Education Spending Index developed by the University of Paris.
KANO FOCUS reports that the ranking places Kano State first among 209 first-level sub-national governments across 15 ECOWAS member countries, underscoring the state’s growing reputation for prioritising investment in education.
According to the published index, Kano topped the rankings with an overall S-WAESI score of 87.21, outperforming other leading regions, including Dakar and Saint-Louis in Senegal. Lagos State was the second Nigerian state on the list, ranking 16th overall.
The assessment evaluated states and regions using the S-WAESI (Sub-National Weighted Aggregate Education Spending Index) methodology, which measures government commitment to education through indicators such as actual education expenditure, spending per student, budget execution, education priority, transparency and evidence-based reporting.
The methodology assigns 35 points to actual education spending, 25 points to spending per student, 20 points to budget execution, 10 points to education priority and 10 points to transparency.
The report indicated that Kano excelled largely due to its strong actual education spending and budget execution, making it the best-performing sub-national government in the region.
The ranking covered states, regions, districts and municipalities across Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde.
Kano State Accountability Forum on Education (K-SAFE) said the recognition reflects Kano State Government’s sustained investment in expanding access to education, improving school infrastructure and strengthening educational planning and budget implementation.
KANO FOCUS reports that the achievement is expected to further boost the state’s profile as a leader in education reform within West Africa and provide additional momentum for ongoing efforts to improve learning outcomes across the state.
The latest ranking comes amid renewed attention on education financing across ECOWAS, with experts increasingly emphasising transparent budgeting, efficient resource utilisation and sustained public investment as critical drivers of quality education.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after qualifying for a total of $3.5 million in performance-based incentives for implementing key governance, education and healthcare reforms.
KANO FOCUS reports that the World Bank, through the HOPE Governance Programme domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, approved $27 million in incentives for states that successfully met the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs).
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, announced the incentives on Tuesday in Abuja during a retreat attended by commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A statement issued by the programme’s Communications Officer, Joe Mutah, said the incentives were based on the recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which assessed states’ performance against agreed reform indicators.
Kano ranked among the highest-performing states, qualifying for incentives under three separate reform indicators.
The state will receive $1.5 million under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.1 for adopting comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for the state basic education budget.
It also qualified for another $1.5 million under DLR 2.2, which recognises states that adopted comprehensive guidelines for consolidated work plans for state primary healthcare budgets.
In addition, Kano secured $500,000 under DLR 2.3 for adopting harmonised budget guidelines and a unified chart of accounts for local governments.
Altogether, the state is expected to receive $3.5 million, making it one of the top-performing states under the programme.
Only five states—Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe—qualified for both the education and healthcare planning incentives, earning $3 million each from the two indicators alone.
Kano further distinguished itself by qualifying under the local government budgeting reform indicator, increasing its total allocation to $3.5 million.
The state also featured among 15 states that met the requirements under DLR 4.1, which rewards states for publishing their 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare by February 28, 2025. Each qualifying state under this indicator will receive $500,000.
Other states that qualified under DLR 4.1 are Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Yobe.
According to the programme, the performance-based incentives are designed to encourage states to strengthen governance systems, improve budget transparency and enhance planning in the education and primary healthcare sectors.
KANO FOCUS reports that the HOPE Governance Programme is a World Bank-supported initiative implemented through the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to promote improved public financial management and better service delivery across Nigeria’s states.
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