Kano Governor’s N100m, 1,540 Land Gift to APC Supporters Is Just the Latest Rot in Nigeria’s Politics

Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has distributed 1,540 plots of land and a cash grant of N100 million to leaders of the APC Polling Unit Supporters Association, popularly known as ‘Yan Akwati, as part of efforts to strengthen the party’s grassroots structure ahead of the 2027 general elections. The governor announced the gesture during the official inauguration of the association, describing the polling unit structure as the foundation of the APC’s electoral strength. According to the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Yusuf stressed that empowering grassroots supporters would enhance the party’s mobilisation efforts and guarantee victory for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second-term bid.

This is public money and public land being handed out to secure votes. The governor’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Mustapha Hamza Buhari Bakwana, expressed confidence that the ‘Yan Akwati network has the capacity to mobilise more than one million votes for President Tinubu in Kano State. The association’s leader, Najib Salati, pledged the group’s commitment to working for the party’s success in the 2027 general elections. The governor’s political adviser described the intervention as the first phase of a broader strategy aimed at consolidating the APC’s grassroots support ahead of the next general elections. The event attracted party leaders, political stakeholders and representatives of the association from the 44 local government areas of Kano State.

The governor made the pledge in a trending video, where he was seen addressing members of the party at a hall in Kano on Thursday, July 16. Speaking in Hausa, the governor said: “The good news is that, by God’s grace, we have instructed the Commissioner of Land and Physical Planning that, in a week’s time, all the names in this document will be given documents for their plots of land. The Governor will also give you 100 million Naira collectively”. The allocation of land and cash to secure votes is not governance. It is electoral bribery using public resources. It is the weaponisation of state power to manipulate election outcomes. The governor is not building schools, not fixing hospitals, not providing water. He is buying votes.

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The move has sparked outrage. Adékúnlé Odérìndé called for the immediate impeachment of the governor. Nwọfọ said a concerned citizen should sue the governor if he implements the plan. NwanneNaija called for a protest vote against the ruling APC, stating: “Nigeria has become an unrestricted public criminal enterprise under APC; you are allocating the common wealth of the citizens to your political party. Whatever we have to do to stop APC in 2027, we must do”.

This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern of governance as organised crime. When the Accountant-General steals N109 billion, when the Attorney-General forfeits 48 properties, when a governor hands out land and cash to buy votes, it is the same system. It is the same culture of impunity. It is the same contempt for the Nigerian people. In March 2026, a former Acting Accountant-General was sentenced to 72 years in prison for money laundering involving N868 million. On July 15, 2026, a court ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties valued at N212.8 billion linked to a former Attorney-General. And now, a sitting governor is openly distributing public land and public money to secure votes.

The Governor of Kano State is not a philanthropist. He is a politician using public resources to buy electoral victory. The 1,540 plots of land belong to the people of Kano State. The N100 million belongs to the people of Kano State. But the governor has decided that his political survival matters more than the welfare of the people he swore to serve. This is not leadership. This is looting. This is the systematic plunder of public resources for private political gain. And it must stop.

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