KEY POINTS

• Senator Rufai Hanga has ordered defected NNPP local government chairmen in Kano Central to return party vehicles.

• The directive follows their defection to the APC amid wider political realignments in Kano State.

• The move has attracted criticism, with AA Zaura offering replacement vehicles to affected leaders.

The senator representing Kano Central Senatorial District on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Rufai Sani Hanga, has instructed former NNPP local government chairmen in the district to return vehicles earlier provided to them after their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The directive was contained in a letter dated January 28, 2026, and signed by the Secretary to the Senator’s Office, Engr. Ibrahim Nakwalli Kawaji. The letter was sighted on Sunday.

A copy of the letter, addressed to the NNPP chairman of Kura Local Government Area, Alhaji Ubale Isyaku Waskas, directed him to return “the party vehicle provided to you by the Distinguished Senator Rufai Hanga for NNPP activities in your local government.”

The letter instructed that the vehicle be returned to the senator’s office located at No. 48, Sokoto Road, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, between January 28 and January 30, 2026.

It added that the vehicle would be kept in the custody of the senator’s office pending the resolution of internal party matters, while urging the recipients to “continue serving the party faithfully during the period.”

Sources said the instruction applies to all NNPP local government chairmen within Kano Central Senatorial District.

Affected Local Government Areas

The local government areas covered by the directive include Dala, Dawakin Kudu, Fagge, Garun Mallam, Gezawa, Gwale, Kano Municipal, Kumbotso, Kura, Madobi, Minjibir, Nasarawa, Tarauni, Ungogo and Warawa.

The letter further directed that the vehicles be handed over directly to the Head of the Senator’s Office, Alhaji Shehu Tijjani Usman Tarauni.

The development comes against the backdrop of a major political realignment in Kano State, following the defection of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to the APC alongside more than 20 members of the State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives and all 44 local government chairmen in the state.

The mass movement has continued to generate reactions from political actors and supporters across party lines.

Reacting on social media, Sani Gilashi Haruna criticised Senator Hanga’s directive, describing it as inconsistent with past political practice in Kano.

He recalled that businessman and politician Alhaji Abdussalam Abdulkarim, popularly known as AA Zaura, had previously distributed vehicles to party leaders across the state without later demanding their return, even after electoral defeat.

Haruna added that Senator Hanga had earlier described the distribution of the vehicles as empowerment, questioning the rationale for seeking to retrieve them.