Kano Denies Administrative Lockdown Over  Gov Yusuf’s Defection Rumours

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Kano State Government has described as false, misleading and mischievous, insinuations suggesting administrative lockdown over the decision to temporarily bar Ministries and Parastatals from forwarding files to the office of the Governor.

This is as the Government insisted that the move is in tandem with routine control measures normally taken towards the end of every fiscal year to stem frivolous expenditures and leakages.

The Source reports that the office of the Secretary to the Kano State Government had directed Commissioners, Heads of Government Parastatals and other agencies to stop sending  files to the Governor for approvals pending further directives.

The directive was said to have been issued on Friday after an Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf.

However, there have been  widespread concern over the directives, with various reports suggesting that the development may have led to the  grinding of the wheels of governance ,as many files have been returned to Ministries and parastatals from the Governor’s office untreated.

There have  been growing fears that such a development may have negatively affected both governance and the delivery of essential services in particular within the system .

The apprehension was somewhat accentuated by the ongoing tension arising from the rumoured defection of Governor Abba Yusuf to the All Progressive Congress , with his benefactor, the Leader of the Kwankwansia movement Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso stoutly opposing the move .

But in a statement late on Friday January ,16, 2026, the Secretary to State Government SSG, Umar Ibrahim, noted that the directive is usually issued towards the end of the fiscal year , when the year’s Appropriation Law is nearing expiry, and the new budget still being processed by the appropriate authorities .

According to him, the directive was issued at a time when prudence, legality and respect for due process demand restraint in executive approvals, particularly those with financial implications.

The SSG emphasized that the policy is primarily targeted at preventing frivolous and unauthorized expenditures , illegal financial commitments and future audit queries.

Ibrahim noted that going by extant rules and regulations, no new expenditures should be incurred during the period of  interregnum between the old and new budgetary estimates.

This is as the SSG  debunked rumours claiming the grounding of administration in the State is as a result of the directive.

“Far from grounding public administration, the directive was a responsible administrative and fiscal control measure  taken to avoid illegal financial commitments and protect the state from legal and audit exposure” the Kano state Government stated .

According to him, the directive rather than leading to negative and unintended consequences, has assisted the Government in curbing the culture of rushed end-of-year approvals which, over the years, has tended to undermine accountability, transparency and fiscal discipline in public service.

However, Ibrahim noted that the policy only placed temporary embargo on files from Ministries while the parastatals continue to operate within the extant rules and regulations governing them.

While assuring of Government’s continued efforts at ensuring uninterrupted service delivery, the SSG expressed serious concern over the claims that the policy has resulted in the paralysis of Government activities.

The Source further reports that the controversy over the directive is coming at a time the State Governor is deeply involved in the process of defecting to the All Progressive Congress APC.

The Governor, amidst strident opposition from a section of the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP led by the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has been engaged in wide consultations over his planned defection.

Not a few believe that Governor Yusuf’s political activities may have taken precedence over governance, at least, in the last couple weeks.