Yusuf Abba Kabir

Abba Kabir Yusuf (born 5 January 1963) is a Nigerian politician who has served as governor of Kano State since May 2023. He served as commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport in the Kano State Executive Council from 2011 to 2015, during the administration of Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso.

Yusuf decamped from the NNPP to APC in 2026, citing the need for unity and delivering development to the people. Yusuf (born Abubakar, nicknamed Abba) was born on 5 January 1963 into the Sullubawa Fulani clan, the ruling class of the Kano Emirate, from the family of Malam Kabiru Yusuf and Malama Khadijatul-Naja'atu in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State.

He started his Islamic education at an early age under the guidance of his late grandfather, Danmakwayon Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Bashari, who was then the District Head of Gaya Local Government Area. Yusuf attended Sumaila Primary School between 1968 and 1975, then Government Secondary School, Dawakin Tofa, and later Government Secondary School, Lautai in Gumel.

He completed his secondary education in 1980 and gained admission into the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Gongola State (now Adamawa State), obtaining a National Diploma (ND) in civil engineering in 1985. He later earned a Higher National Diploma (HND) in civil engineering with a specialization in water resources and environmental engineering from Kaduna Polytechnic in 1989.

Yusuf enrolled at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), where he obtained a postgraduate diploma and a master’s degree in business administration. He served the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at Kaduna Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA) from 1989 to 1990.

He was appointed by Kano State Water Resources Engineering and Construction Agency (WRECA), where he held various positions. President Umaru Musa Yaradua appointed him as the chairman of the Governing Board of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in Ondo State, serving from 2009 to 2011.

In 1999, Yusuf was appointed personal assistant to Rabiu Kwankwaso while he was the governor of Kano State. He was retained as personal assistant when Kwankwaso became a federal minister in 2003. Yusuf became Commissioner of Works, Housing, and Transport in 2011 when Kwankwaso returned to governorship for a second term.

In 2018, Yusuf was endorsed by Kwankwaso to challenge incumbent Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 gubernatorial election. Kwankwaso had previously supported Ganduje in 2014, leading to Ganduje’s victory in the 2015 election. Yusuf lost the election and later challenged the result at the election tribunal, but his petition was dismissed.

In 2022, Yusuf moved from the PDP to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), where he was again endorsed by Kwankwaso to challenge Nasir Yusuf Gawuna in the 2023 elections. He was declared the winner on 20 March 2023 and received his certificate of return on 29 March 2023. Yusuf was elected governor on 18 March 2023 under the NNPP platform alongside his running mate, Abdussalam Gwarzo Aminu.

After his victory, the opposition APC challenged the result and filed a petition to the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. The tribunal declared Nasir Gawuna of APC as the winner on 20 September 2023 and removed Yusuf from the governorship. Yusuf challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the tribunal’s verdict.

The Supreme Court overruled the Court of Appeal’s decision on 12 January 2024, affirming Yusuf as the duly elected governor of Kano State. On 23 May 2024, Yusuf reinstated Muhammadu Sanusi as Emir of Kano, who had been deposed in 2020 by then-governor Umar Ganduje.