Headlines
APC Chairmanship: Search For Ganduje’s Replacement Begins
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
There are indications that the Presidency may have given the green light for stakeholders to begin the search for a replacement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, LEADERSHIP gathered.
KANO FOCUS gathered that the Villa, which has been silent over Ganduje’s recent political travail, is said to have “commissioned” APC governors from the North Central geo-political zone to begin a search for a new chairman from the region as originally planned by the party.
A top party source told LEADERSHIP Newspaper that besides the North Central zone producing the next chairman, the Villa might be open to allowing the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) camp within the party to produce Ganduje’s replacement as part of appeasement moves.
It was further learnt that those opposed to Ganduje’s continued stay, including a serving senator who was former governor of a South South state, listed his perceived handling of the Edo and Ondo primaries as well as the unfolding drama surrounding the probe into his tenure as Kano State governor.
Ganduje’s woes, it was also gathered, is being compounded by an alleged plan for New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate in 2023, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to return to the APC, a claim confirmed to LEADERSHIP Friday by a former commissioner and APC chieftain in Kano State, Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso.
Also, the agitation by APC stakeholders in the North Central zone for the return of the chairmanship position to their zone has not helped Ganduje’s case. The immediate past governor of Kano State is from the North West zone.
The APC chairman has been locked in an intriguing legal battle in Kano State over moves to suspend him in his ward by some persons claiming to be APC executives.
They hinged their suspension on the probe into Ganduje’s administration over alleged financial misappropriation by Governor Abba Yusuf.
While Ganduje blames the NNPP-led administration in the state for his travails, the APC leadership, at federal and state levels, has since distanced themselves from the suspension moves.
However, the embattled chairman is fighting back and battling to salvage his job. Party sources told LEADERSHIP Friday that he had reached out to some governors to help him stave off those angling to remove him from office.
It was gathered that he recently pleaded with a governor from a North Central State to urge an aggrieved aspirant to withdraw his suit seeking to stop him from parading himself as chairman.
A serving senator and former national chairmanship aspirant is said to have also been recruited to ensure the case is dropped.
KANO FOCUS recalls that an APC chairmanship aspirant in 2022, Muhammad Etsu, is seeking a legal injunction to stop Ganduje from parading himself as national chairman.
He had earlier argued for the national chairmanship seat to return to the North Central zone.
In the build-up to the 2022 national convention, the APC had zoned the position to the North Central which saw Senator Abdullahi Adamu emerge as national chairman.
He resigned in 2023 paving the way for Ganduje, who hails from North West, to become chairman.
However, the party source told LEADERSHIP Friday that another North Central governor is backing the move to remove Ganduje.
The governor, according to a party source, is seeking Ganduje’s removal because he appears to have taken sides with the governor’s political opponent (a top government official) in the state.
Attempts to get Ganduje’s reaction on the issues were not successful as calls and messages to his media handlers were not responded to.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that the APC-led presidency adopted the silence option over Ganduje’s ordeal, in light of unfolding political intrigues in the North ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
With the frayed political romance between President Bola Tinubu and some of his allies in the region, it might “be convenient to forge new alliances which might involve making tough decisions,” a source said.
The source, who neither confirmed nor denied the Kwankwaso angle, however said the president would need to firm his base in the region, having seemingly fallen out with some politicians, like former Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai.
“So he might be firmer to ask himself what political value the embattled chairman has to him ahead of 2027. Kano State is a strategic state that any incumbent or presidential candidate would need to have on his side,” the party chieftain said.
Another APC chieftain, who also pleaded not to be named, said Tinubu is keeping quiet on the issues about Ganduje because he single handedly brought him to the position.
The source said: “Unlike in the case of Adams Oshimhole who was elected at a national convention and was not the then President Muhammadu Buhari candidate, hence he was allowed to sink, Ganduje is more or less an appointee of the president and, though the quietness, he is enjoying the protection of Villa.
“Unlike Buhari, Tinubu could be blunt to tell Ganduje to go if he is not satisfied with his leadership as the APC chairman. Also, in the case of Oshiomhole, the APC governors were not on his side but it seems the governors are with Ganduje or they simply are not interested in what is happening.”
A former APC national vice chairman, North-west, Salihu Lukman, said the only strong qualification of Ganduje as the party’s chairman is his close relationship with the president.
Source: Leadership Newspaper.
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.
Kano says it executed 1,508 projects worth N928 billion in three years
World Cup: Imam warns Muslims against allowing football to distract from worship
Kano ranks best in ECOWAS on education spending index
Kano emerges top beneficiary as World Bank rewards states with $27m for reforms
NCC invites stakeholders to public consultation on zero-rated access to educational platforms
Kano recruits over 16,000 teachers, begins 10-year education reform plan
Kano delegation participates in international labour conference in Geneva
Kano ranks best in ECOWAS on education spending index
UBEC, UNICEF train education stakeholders on SBMCs in Northern Nigeria
