Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is a prominent Nigerian politician who has served in different political spheres of the country. He served as the Governor of Kano State from 1999 to 2003. He lost the election in 2003 which denied him from returning to office but was appointed the Minister of Defence by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was re-elected as the Governor of Kano State from 2011 to 2015. He has also served as the Senator representing Kano Central. In 2022, Kwankwaso declared his ambition to contest during the 2023 presidential election under the New Nigeria Peoples Party(NNPP).

Rabiu Kwankwaso Biography

Full Name :

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso

Date of Birth :

October 26, 1956

Place of Birth :

Kano State, Nigeria

Highest Qualification :

P.hD

Occupation :

Politician

Net Worth :

$10 million

Social Media Handles :

Twitter: @KwankwasoRM
Instagram: kwankwasorm

Early Life & Education

Rabiu Kwankwaso was born on the 21st of October, 1956, in Kwankwaso village, Madobi. His father held the position of Sarkin Fulani, Dagacin Kwankwaso, the title for the head of Kwankwaso village. His father was later appointed as Majidadin Kano, the District Head of Madobi. Kwankwaso had most of his education in Kano State. He attended Kwankwaso Primary School, Gwarzo Boarding Senior Primary School, Wudil Craft School, and Kano Technical College for his primary and secondary education. 

Kwankwaso went to further to Kaduna Polytechnic where he obtained his National Diploma(ND) and Higher National Diploma(HND) certificate. During his time in school, Kwankwaso was a prominent student leader and a chosen representative of the Kano State Students Association. He also pursued postgraduate studies at Middlesex Polytechnic in the UK from 1982 to 1983, as well as at the Loughborough University of Technology, where he graduated with a master’s in water engineering in 1985. In 2022, he graduated from Sharda University in India with a Ph.D. in water engineering.

Career

In 1975, before Kwankwaso joined politics, he worked at the Kano State Water Resources and Engineering Construction Agency of the Government of Kano State. After his seventeen years of working experience, he became the principal water engineer.

Political Career

Rabiu Kwankwaso started his political career in 1992 as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In the same year, he was elected as an honorable representing Madobi Federal Constituency in Kano State. He gained national recognition when he became the deputy speaker of the House of Assembly. As a representative of the People’s Democratic Movement, led by Yar’adua, Kwankwaso was chosen as one of the delegates from Kano during the 1995 Constitutional Conference. Later, as part of General Sani Abacha‘s political transition plan, he joined the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN).

On the platform of the People’s Democratic Movement in Kano, which was headed by Mallam Musa Gwadabe, Senator Hamisu Musa, and Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Kwankwaso joined the PDP in 1998.  He ran in the PDP primary elections in 1999 alongside Alhaji Kabiru Rabiu, Mukthari Zimit, and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He defeated them in the primary elections.

Kwankwaso replaced Theophilus Danjuma as Minister of Defense in President Olusegun Obasanjo‘s second government from 2003 to 2007. He withdrew from his ministerial position in 2007 to run for Governor of Kano State, but he was defeated. Later, the party’s candidate for governor, Alhaji Ahmed Garba Bichi, took his place. 

Kwasnkwaso was appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Special Envoy to Somalia and Darfur after his party’s failed bid to run in the 2007 gubernatorial elections. President Umaru Yar’Adua later made him a board member of the Niger Delta Development Commission, a position he held until resigning in 2010. From 2015 to 2019, Kwankwaso served as the senator for the Kano Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate.

Together with fourteen other APC senators who were still in office, Kwankwaso defected to the PDP in July 2018. The PDP presidential primaries was held in October 2018 and featured 12 candidates, including Kwankwaso, he finished fourth with 158 votes, following Atiku Abubakar (1,532), Aminu Tambuwal (693), Bukola Saraki (317), and Kwankwaso (158). Later, Kwankwaso endorsed Atiku Abubakar as the winner and decided not to run for re-election to the senate, allowing Ibrahim Shekarau to take his place. Abba Kabir Yusuf, his son-in-law, was heavily backed by Kwankwaso in his attempt to become governor of Kano State. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the incumbent, won the race.

In 2022, Rabiu Kwankwaso was declared the presidential candidate under the New Nigeria Peoples Party(NNPP), which would be contesting against other parties in the 2023 presidential election.

Governor of Kano State

From 1999 to 2003, Kwankwaso served as the Governor of Kano State. His first term as governor of Kano State was particularly dramatic due to the opposition he faced from a number of other parties who disapproved of his tyrannical leadership and his attempt to promote Yoruba President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was defeated in his bid for reelection in 2003 by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

Also, From 2011 to 2015, Kwankwaso served as governor of Kano State after being re-elected. He started reorganizing his political system at this time by constructing roads, hospitals, and schools and funding inhabitants’ international education. Kwankwaso was one of the seven active governors that founded the G-7 branch of the People’s Democratic Party in August 2013. Five G-7 members and Kwankwaso joined the new opposition party, the All Progressives Congress(APC), in November 2013.

Personal Life

Rabiu Kwankwaso is happily married. In 1999, he divorced his first wife and got married to another woman. He has eight children from both his first and his new wife.

Influence & Impact

Rabiu Kwankwaso established the Kwankwasiyya Development Foundation (KDF) after leaving office as governor to aid the people of Kano state and all of Nigeria. Through the organization, Kwankwaso provided ongoing financial support to numerous young people so they may complete their education.  After successfully finishing their degrees, the first group of 370 recipients of the foundation’s foreign scholarship returned to Nigeria in 2021. Many of the scholars were able to get employment after completing their studies with numerous national and international companies, including Dangote and Bua.

Corruption Controversy

The Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law of 2007 was allegedly broken by Kwankwaso just before he departed from office earlier that year, according to a petition submitted in 2015 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The group claims that Kwankwaso instructed pension transfers to be spent for housing development but that he instead interfered in a housing project to assign homes to his colleagues. 

EFCC’s investigation into Kwankwaso’s suspected theft of N10 billion pension funds while serving as governor of Kano State was halted on July 2, 2015, by Justice Mohammed Yahaya of the Kano High Court. But on July 16, 2015, the same judge in the Kano High Court reversed his earlier decision and gave the EFCC a ruling allowing it to look into Kwankwaso’s case, make an arrest, and bring charges against him. Kwankwaso was also cited by Justice Muhammed Yahaya and fined N50,000 for “time-wasting.”

The EFCC denied and dismissed accusations that Kwankwaso was the subject of any ongoing corruption investigations and prosecutions later in 2016. Kwankwaso himself has categorically refuted and rejected any claims of corruption against him, calling them political blackmail, malicious, and inaccurate, and supported by his adversaries and political competitors in an effort to damage his name. Through his attorney, Kwankwaso brought a claim in court for compensation for ruining his reputation.

Net Worth

Rabiu Kwankwaso is rated among the richest politicians in Nigeria. His net worth is estimated to be around $10 million.

Social Media Handles

Rabiu Kwankwaso has very active social media platforms, especially on Twitter, where he has over 207,000 followers. You can follow him through the following social media handles.

Twitter: @KwankwasoRM

Instagram: kwankwasorm 

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