1. Rabiu Kwankwaso was later elected to the Senate in 2015, serving one term under the platform of the All Progressives Congress representing Kano Central Senatorial District.
48 Facts About Rabiu Kwankwaso
1. 2.
Rabiu Kwankwaso currently serve as the national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and holds a strong opposition bloc in kano and many parts of Nigeria.
3.
Rabiu Kwankwaso enjoys widespread support in Kano and north-western Nigeria; he has been viewed as a charismatic populist.
4.
In 2015, Rabiu Kwankwaso unsuccessfully contested the presidential primaries nomination under the opposition of the All Progressives Congress but lost to Muhammadu Buhari.
5.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was born on 21 October 1956 in Kano, to a Muslim family.
6.
Rabiu Kwankwaso's father held the position of the village head of Kwankwaso with the title of Sarkin Fulani Dagacin Kwankwaso before being elevated to the position of the District Head of Madobi with the title of Majidadin Kano, Hakimin Madobi by the Kano Emirate Council under the leadership of the 13th Fulani Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero CFR, LLD, JP.
7.
Rabiu Kwankwaso attended Kwankwaso Primary School, Gwarzo Boarding Senior Primary School, Wudil Craft School and Kano Technical College before proceeding to Kaduna Polytechnic where he did both his National Diploma, and Higher National Diploma.
8.
Rabiu Kwankwaso was an active student leader during his school days and was an elected official of the Kano State Students Association.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso attended postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom from 1982 to 1983 at the Middlesex Polytechnic; and Loughborough University of Technology where he received a master's degree in civil engineering in 1985.
10.
Rabiu Kwankwaso Awarded a PhD in civil engineering from Sharda University India, in 2022.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso joined the Kano State Water Resources and Engineering Construction Agency of the Government of Kano State in 1975.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso served there for seventeen years in various capacities and rose through the ranks to become the principal water engineer.
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In 1992, Rabiu Kwankwaso made his entry into politics on the platform of the Social Democratic Party.
14.
Rabiu Kwankwaso was a member of the People's Front faction of the SDP led by General Shehu Yar'adua and other popular politicians such as his former boss Senator Magaji Abdullahi, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Tony Anenih, Chuba Okadigbo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Abubakar Koko and Lamidi Adedibu amongst others.
15.
In 1992, Rabiu Kwankwaso was elected as a member of the House of Representatives representing Madobi Federal Constituency.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso later joined the Democratic Party of Nigeria in the political transition program of General Sani Abacha.
17.
Rabiu Kwankwaso joined the PDP in 1998 under the platform of People's Democratic Movement in Kano led by Mallam Musa Gwadabe, Senator Hamisu Musa and Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila.
18.
Rabiu Kwankwaso was elected for his first term as the governor of Kano State from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2003.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso was re-elected for a second term in office as governor of Kano State from 29 May 2011 to 29 May 2015.
20.
In June 2014, Rabiu Kwankwaso was at loggerheads with long-time Emir of Kano Ado Bayero over his appointment of Waziri of the Kano Emirate Council.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso's accession led to widespread protests from supporters of Sanusi Ado Bayero son of the late Emir and Chiroman Kano, and allegations that Kwankwaso supported Sanusi because of the 2015 presidential election.
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In October 2014, Rabiu Kwankwaso used his large political following in Kano to contest the APC presidential primaries.
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From 2003 to 2007, Rabiu Kwankwaso was appointed as Minister of Defence by President Olusegun Obasanjo's second cabinet, replacing Theophilus Danjuma.
24.
In 2007, Rabiu Kwankwaso resigned his ministerial position to contest the Kano State governorship election but he lost because he had been indicted by a Government White Paper.
25.
Rabiu Kwankwaso represented Kano Central Senatorial District at the Senate of Nigeria from May 2015 to May 2019.
26.
At the presidential primaries held in Rivers, amongst twelve presidential aspirants Rabiu Kwankwaso came in fourth behind Atiku Abubakar with 1,532 votes, Aminu Tambuwal with 693 votes, Bukola Saraki with 317 votes and Rabiu Kwankwaso with 158 votes.
27.
Rabiu Kwankwaso later endorsed the winner Atiku Abubakar and refused to seek re-election into the senate, with Ibrahim Shekarau replacing him.
28.
Rabiu Kwankwaso campaigned heavily for his son-in-law Abba Kabir Yusuf to emerge as the governor in Kano State.
29.
On 22 February 2022, Rabiu Kwankwaso set up the National Movement as a political movement against the staying power of the two major political parties the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
30.
Rabiu Kwankwaso co-opted the New Nigeria Peoples Party as the political wing of the movement and became the national leader of the party on 30 March 2022.
31.
However, Rabiu Kwankwaso's party has been described as mainly focused on regional and pragmatic considerations and not on any particular ideology.
32.
Rabiu Kwankwaso established 26 academic and manpower development training institutes and through these institutes over 360,000 youth and women were trained and empowered.
33.
Rabiu Kwankwaso is the first governor in Nigeria to introduce free school feeding and uniforms for primary school pupils.
34.
Rabiu Kwankwaso established 230 secondary schools of which there are 47 technical colleges, 44 schools of Islamic studies, a Chinese college, a French college, and the first boarding girls' college as well as a boys' college in Damagaran and Niamey jointly with the Government of Niger Republic.
35.
Rabiu Kwankwaso initiated the covering of drainages with interlocking tiles in the state, including the covering of the Jakara River which cuts across the city of Kano with a dualised road, which greatly improved the environmental and sanitary condition of the entire city of Kano.
36.
Rabiu Kwankwaso has built many houses and estates in both his first and second tenure in office.
37.
Rabiu Kwankwaso has donated sports kits and cash worth over 150 million naira to amateur football clubs across states in Nigeria.
38.
On his 64th birthday in 2020, Rabiu Kwankwaso inaugurated a 300-pupil capacity school which he built in Rano local government, Kano.
39.
In 2015, the Concerned Kano State Workers and Pensioners group filed a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission claiming that Rabiu Kwankwaso had broken the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law of 2007 right before leaving office earlier in 2015.
40.
Rabiu Kwankwaso filed suit in court through his lawyer seeking compensation for tarnishing his image.
41.
In September 2021, the Premium Times found that the EFCC had invited Rabiu Kwankwaso for questioning earlier that month on the alleged pension fund misappropriation from 2015; Rabiu Kwankwaso initially ignored the commission before turning himself in on 16 October for questioning.
42.
However, these are only mere speculations, as Rabiu Kwankwaso has never been convicted or taken to court on corruption charges.
43.
Rabiu Kwankwaso voluntarily visited the EFCC in order to clarify some rumours that were spread by his political opponents.
44.
Rabiu Kwankwaso was not arrested nor was he found guilty of the politically motivated allegations.
45.
In 2014, Rabiu Kwankwaso announced his intention to run for the position of President of Nigeria under the newly established opposition party, the APC party.
46.
Rabiu Kwankwaso participated in the party's primary election in Lagos, where he came in second place after Gen.
47.
In 2022, Rabiu Kwankwaso abandoned the PDP and joined the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
48.
Rabiu Kwankwaso contested and won the presidential primary held in Abuja later that year.