The office of the senator representing Kano Central Senatorial District, Rufai Sani Hanga, has ordered former local government chairmen of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the district to return vehicles earlier allocated to them, following their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The directive was contained in a letter dated January 28, sighted on Tuesday, and signed by the Secretary to the Senator’s Office, Engr. Ibrahim Nakwalli Kawaji.
In the letter addressed to the NNPP chairman of Kura Local Government Area, Alhaji Ubale Isyaku Waskas, the senator’s office instructed him to return “the party vehicle provided to you by the Distinguished Senator Rufai Hanga for NNPP activities in your local government” to the senator’s office located at No. 48, Sokoto Road, Nasarawa GRA, Kano.
The letter specified that the vehicle should be returned between January 28 and January 30, 2026.
It further stated that the vehicle would be kept at the senator’s office pending the resolution of the party’s internal crisis, while urging the recipient to remain loyal to the party during the period.
Daily Trust gathered that the directive applies to all NNPP local government chairmen within the Kano Central Senatorial District. The affected local government areas include Dala, Dawakin Kudu, Fagge, Garun Mallam, Gezawa, Gwale, Kano Municipal, Kumbotso, Kura, Madobi, Minjibir, Nasarawa, Tarauni, Ungogo and Warawa.
The letter also emphasised that the vehicles must be handed over directly to the head of the senator’s office, Alhaji Shehu Tijjani Usman Tarauni, stressing the need for immediate compliance on the grounds that the vehicles are party property.
Recall that Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, last week officially defected to the APC alongside 22 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives and all 44 local government chairmen in the state.
The development has continued to generate mixed reactions among political stakeholders and party supporters in Kano.
Reacting to the directive, a social media user, Sani Gilashi Haruna, criticised the move, describing it as unfortunate and inconsistent with past political practices in the state. He recalled that a former political leader, Alhaji Abdussalam Abdulkarim, popularly known as AA Zaura, had previously distributed vehicles to party leaders across the 44 local government areas of Kano State without demanding their return after losing an election.
He further noted that Senator Hanga had earlier described the vehicle distribution as empowerment, questioning the justification for asking beneficiaries to return them.
In a related development, Alhaji Abdussalam Abdulkarim expressed readiness to provide alternative vehicles to the affected party leaders if Senator Hanga insisted on retrieving those earlier issued.
His spokesperson, Malam Dahiru Ahmad Maihuddadu, said AA Zaura was willing to support the leaders with “better vehicles,” describing the senator’s action as regrettable.
