THE playbook of manufactured scandals and public blackmail, once the engine of Kwankwasiyya electoral success, has officially expired. As we approach the 2027 polls, this strategy of defamation is failing to gain traction, largely because the current leadership in Kano State has moved beyond the shadows of the movement to master the mechanics of genuine governance.
For years, the political landscape of Kano was dominated by a cynical art: the systematic erosion of an incumbent credibility through orchestrated controversies. We saw it perfected in the lead up to the 2011 elections against Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, and again in the campaigns against Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in 2019 and 2023. These were not merely political disagreements; they were calibrated efforts to manufacture public outrage and harvest synthetic sympathy as a vehicle to electoral victory.
However, the 2027 cycle tells a different story. The strategy is hitting a wall, not because the opposition has forgotten the moves, but because the man at the helm of Kano affairs today, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, is the one who helped write the manual. It appears the gubernatorial candidate of the Kwankwasiyya dynasty under the Nigeria Democratic Congress is yet to realize how Governor Abba Kabir emptied the movement by taking away these historic social media influencers at the time he was leaving the New Nigeria Peoples Party for the All Progressives Congress.
That is precisely why the candidate is resorting to doing the propaganda himself, unfortunately without the field commanders to support and propagate it for public consumption. It is truly a pity to witness the negative public reception and comments trailing the interviews granted by the candidate.
Crucially, the Governor has successfully dismantled the very digital infrastructure that once powered the Kwankwasiyya movement. The most fearless, energetic, and intelligent youths who served as the backbone of that movement, the digital airforce and ground strikers once used to tarnish and discredit previous administrations, have largely realigned.
Recognizing the shift toward substantive governance and personal accountability, the most prominent figures of that era, including Salisu Yahaya Hotoro, Jikan Oga, Kabiru Dakata, Ahmad Alasan Kabo, Yusuf Babati, Yaseer Monday, Abubakar Muhammad Inuwa, Ahmed Umar, Aminu Abubakar Isma’il, Abdulrashid Panda, Musayyib Ungoggo, the late Baba Alo, and others too numerous to mention, have all moved away from the Kwankwasiyya dynasty to align themselves with the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. Meanwhile, the new generation raised to replace them is currently struggling, battling a distinct lack of popularity and followership in the competitive field of social media.
Beyond mere political survival, the exit of the Governor from the New Nigeria Peoples Party was driven by a higher calling: a desire to unite Kano and do away with the long political rivalries that have long threatened our peaceful coexistence. Under his Kano First Agenda, the Governor is actively working to dismantle the divisive politics of the past, seeking to restore the values of unity and common purpose that define us as people of one state.
Having emanated from within the Kwankwasiyya family, Governor Yusuf did not just witness these strategies; he was an internal architect of the movement. When he parted ways with that structure which functioned like a cartel, he took with him more than just his resignation. He walked away with a deep, technical understanding of the vulnerabilities of the movement and an intimate knowledge of the very dossiers they once used to target others.
Over the past three years, this internal history has become a strategic asset. The Governor intentionally placed key figures from the movement into positions of high responsibility. In doing so, he allowed their conduct, often marred by the same allegations of financial impropriety that they once leveled against their rivals, to be documented under the light of official scrutiny.
Today, the administration holds the keys to a vast archive of these failures. The ground strikers and the digital airforce of the movement now find themselves in a precarious position: they are no longer the accusers, but the subjects of an oversight process that they cannot escape. For the Governor, holding these dossiers is a matter of administrative necessity. If and when the time comes to address those who seek to destabilize the state, it is simply a matter of pressing buttons.
As we look toward 2027, the era of relying on hit pieces and orchestrated defamation to secure power is drawing to a close. The Kano electorate is becoming increasingly discerning, and the old guard of the Kwankwasiyya is finding that the tactics which once destroyed their opponents are now, quite literally, being used to dismantle their own house.
The message for the upcoming election cycle is definitive: yesterday weapons have no place on tomorrow battlefield. In this new dawn for Kano, the currency of politics has shifted from the loud noise of the blackmailer to the quiet dignity of the reformer. The Kano First Agenda is more than a policy statement; it is a declaration that the era of political cartelism is over.
As the state moves toward a future defined by transparency and inclusive growth, those who insist on clinging to the wreckage of the past will find themselves left behind by the very people they once sought to manipulate. Kano has awakened to the reality that its destiny is not found in the destruction of leaders but in the construction of a legacy that puts our state above the narrow interests of a few. The page has been turned, and for those who have mastered the art of governance over the art of agitation, the path to 2027 is clear, purposeful, and entirely in their hands.
- Kiru, FCIA is Former Commissioner for Education, Kano State.