Zainab Musa Kwankwaso, wife of Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and daughter of former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has reportedly approached a court in Abuja seeking dissolution of her marriage to the governor after 20 years.
According to documents obtained by DAILY GAZETTE, Zainab filed for divorce at the Upper Area Court in Gudu, Abuja, with a court summons directing Governor Yusuf to appear on November 17, 2026.
The couple got married on July 29, 2006, and their marriage produced six children.
The development comes amid reports of a prolonged marital crisis, which sources have linked partly to the political disagreement between Governor Yusuf and his father-in-law, Kwankwaso.
Zainab reportedly left the Kano Government House on October 28 and moved to her father’s residence before subsequently travelling to Abuja without her security escorts.
Her departure reportedly triggered the arrest and questioning of some security personnel attached to her, while some of her siblings, including Ado Kwankwaso, were also questioned over allegations that they assisted her in leaving Kano.
In her court application, Zainab reportedly cited an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, stating that mutual love, affection and emotional attachment between the couple had ceased to exist.
She was also said to have told the court that efforts to reconcile the marriage had failed, expressing fears that continuing in the relationship could affect her ability to fulfil her religious obligations.
The governor’s wife is seeking to end the marriage through khul’i, an Islamic divorce arrangement under which a wife may seek dissolution of her marriage by returning the dowry or other agreed marital consideration.
As part of her application, she reportedly offered to refund the dowry paid by the governor when they got married.
Meanwhile, the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Sanusi Dawakin Tofa, reportedly did not respond to requests for the governor’s reaction to the development as of the time of filing this report.
