The divorce controversy involving Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, and his second wife, Zainab Musa Kwankwaso, daughter of former Kano State Governor and Senator, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has taken a fresh turn following reports that the police have arrested three persons over her departure from the Kano Government House.
The arrests reportedly followed an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Zainab’s departure from the Government House on October 28, when she travelled to Abuja without her police orderly and other security escorts.
Those arrested reportedly include an orderly attached to the governor’s wife. The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Dr Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, was also said to have ordered an investigation into how she left the Government House without her security detail.
The development comes days after Zainab reportedly approached the Upper Area Court in Gudu, Abuja, seeking the dissolution of her marriage to the governor.
According to court documents obtained by Pointblanknews.com, the divorce suit, marked CV/97/26, has prompted the court to summon Yusuf to appear on November 17, 2026.
In her particulars of claim, Zainab reportedly cited a breakdown of the marriage, alleging a prolonged absence of mutual care, love, affection and emotional connection between them.
She also told the court that she had lost her love and affection for the governor and developed a deep-seated aversion to continuing the marriage.
The governor’s wife is seeking the dissolution of the marriage through khul’i, an Islamic procedure that allows a woman to initiate separation from her husband, usually by returning the dowry or offering an agreed compensation.
She reportedly indicated her willingness to refund the dowry paid by Yusuf when they got married in 2006.
The couple married on July 29, 2006, when Zainab was serving as an aide to her father. Their union has produced six children.
Meanwhile, the controversy has reportedly extended to members of the Kwankwaso family, with reports that Zainab’s elder brother, Ado Kwankwaso, and her elder sister were invited by the police for questioning over allegations that they assisted her in leaving Kano.
The reported police action has added another dimension to the unfolding family controversy, although the circumstances surrounding the alleged involvement of her siblings remain unclear.
The disagreement is also believed to have strained relations within the family. However, there has been no independent confirmation that the reported political differences between Yusuf and Kwankwaso influenced Zainab’s decision to seek a divorce.
As of Saturday, November 14, neither Governor Yusuf nor Senator Kwankwaso had issued a detailed public statement on the divorce proceedings or the reported police investigation.