Ganduje’s ‘Hisbah’ stirs controversy in Kano

Recently, when a former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, announced plans to establish a Hisbah-like voluntary security outfit under the Ganduje Foundation, the move immediately stirred intense debates across the state and various online platforms.

The initiative, which he called Independent Hisbah, is designed to absorb 12,000 personnel disengaged by the Kano State Hisbah Board under the current administration in the state.

The announcement has since sparked a mix of support, scepticism and outright opposition, with many questioning its legality, motive and implication for security and governance in the state.

Genesis of the issue

The Kano State Hisbah Board, a government-backed religious enforcement agency, has long been tasked with promoting Islamic values, discouraging immoral acts and enforcing aspects of sharia law. Earlier, the Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf administration disengaged 12,000 Hisbah personnel, citing irregularities in their recruitment and operations.

Ganduje, who is also the immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), described the mass dismissal as unjust.

In response, he commissioned a committee led by the director-general of the National Productivity Centre (NPC) and a former head of the Kano Roads and Traffic Agency (KAROTA), Baffa Babba Dan-Agundi, to verify the identities of the affected workers.

Presenting the report, Dan-Agundi said the committee had successfully documented the dismissed personnel.

“Your Excellency, this is a draft report of the 12,000 Hisbah personnel dismissed by the Kano State Government. We have verified them with their contacts. All of them are with you in this journey,” he told Ganduje.

Responding, Ganduje announced the establishment of a new outfit, which he said would operate independently of government structures.

“It will be known as Independent Hisbah. I know there are many others who will want to join aside this 12,000. You will soon be given another mandate of getting more people to join,” he said.

The proposed body is expected to be headed by Sheikh Muhammad Harun Ibn Sina,  a former commander-general of the Kano Hisbah Board.

Ibn Sina explained that the organisation, to be known as Khairun Nas, would function as a voluntary body with similar roles to Hisbah but without being a parallel government agency.

“The 12,000 officers engaged during his tenure and dismissed by this government complained to him and he said an independent body could be established, but not as an agency, as only government could do so. He set up a committee co-chaired by Dan-Agundi and myself, alongside four others, to verify the people and their willingness to join,” Ibn Sina said.

He, however, noted that the body had not been formally established, stressing that it would be open to all interested individuals beyond the dismissed personnel.

On allowances, Ibn Sina said the outfit would be voluntary in nature, with support from individuals or organisations to provide stipends.

According to him, the mandate of the proposed body will include “enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, providing first aid, admonition, and assistance to people.”

Barely two weeks after the announcement, the Ganduje Foundation officially launched recruitment for the body, now named Independent Hisbah Fisabilillah.

At the unveiling in Kano, Dan-Agundi and Ibn Sina reiterated, “This is not a government body. It is a voluntary organisation we created purely for the sake of Allah. We are not in competition with government’s Hisbah,” Ibn noted.

The recruitment exercise is expected to absorb the disengaged personnel, while also opening doors for new volunteers across the state’s 44 local government areas.

‘Ganduje has right to form security outfit, but … ‘

A Kano-based legal practitioner, Kamilu Ahmad, explained that while the law permits individuals to establish private security outfits, such ventures must strictly adhere to existing legal frameworks.

Citing the Private Guard Companies Act of 1986, the lawyer noted that “every Nigerian has the right to register a security company in Nigeria by following due process of law.”

He, however, stressed that the operational scope and objectives of such outfits must not conflict with the functions of the Nigeria Police Force or any other statutory security agency.

On Ganduje’s reported move, Ahmad said the former governor could indeed register a security company in Kano State as a private organisation or corporate body. But he warned that Ganduje must avoid using certain terms and symbols that could clash with existing institutions.

“He cannot use the name, Kano State Hisbah, nor can the objectives of his company be similar to those of the Kano State Hisbah Board. The uniform must not resemble that of any security organisation, and the core objectives must not overlap with those of the police or the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),” the lawyer noted.

He added that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the NSCDC Act clearly spells out the procedures and requirements for registration of private security companies.

According to him, the CAC would not register any outfit bearing the name Hisbah since it already exists as a statutory body in Kano.

He further argued that Ganduje’s plan could face significant hurdles, especially against the backdrop of ongoing national debates about the creation of state police.

“It will be a great obstacle for Ganduje to get any organisation to prosper in providing security solutions in Kano State. He has not clearly stated the reasons and objectives for creating an independent security body, and his move may be calculated as politically motivated,” he concluded.

Kano indigenous lawyers petition Tinubu, NSA

A coalition of legal practitioners under the umbrella of the National Forum of Kano Indigene Lawyers has petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, over what they described as a dangerous move to establish a parallel Hisbah in the state.

In the petition jointly signed by the forum’s national president, Malam Usman Imam Tudun Wazirichi and national secretary, Rita Benedict, the lawyers warned that the creation of a private or politically motivated Hisbah structure posed “serious security risks” and threatened the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians in the state.

The petition, made available to journalists in Kano, accused former Governor Ganduje of initiating a plan to recruit 12,000 youths into what they termed an “independent security outfit” modeled after the state-recognised Hisbah Board.

According to the petition, “There are ongoing efforts to destabilise the long-standing social order of Kano for political gains. The recent disturbances witnessed across parts of the state point to deliberate attempts to manufacture insecurity.”

The lawyers noted that the establishment of any parallel Hisbah “driven by political motives” could plunge the state into confusion and undermine the authority of the elected New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)-led government.

They also stated: “The situation calls for a firm and transparent security response, not the creation of private or quasi-religious security bodies that provide cover for criminal or extreme elements.”

They added that any such initiative violated section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which places the responsibility for security squarely on the government, not private foundations or political platforms.

The forum warned that if urgent action is not taken, the situation could escalate into a major regional security crisis.

“If decisive measures are not taken, we will have no choice but to notify the US President Donald Trump, the United Nations and the Commonwealth of the looming security threat in Nigeria’s most populous state,” the petition warned.

Kano residents react

Some residents who spoke to Weekend Trust expressed mixed feelings. While some welcomed the initiative as a way to provide jobs and maintain moral order, others feared it could deepen political division or create parallel structures of authority.

Abdulaziz Ibrahim has no problem with the body as long as it will not go beyond what it is intended to achieve.

“They said it is just for upholding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. I see nothing wrong with that. But if they do something else, that is where the issue would be,” Ibrahim said.

On his part, Abdullahi Hassan said the timing and intent of establishing the body were making a lot of people to raise concern.

“Why now that we are approaching elections? Why is it aligned to a politician? Twelve thousand is such a big number not to be joked with; they may end up creating a parallel government agency,” Abdullahi added.

For Habiba Musa, another resident, since the issue is already generating heated debate and suspicion among people, it is better if it is halted in the interest of peace and harmony of the state.

Move illegal, call to anarchy – Kano govt

The Kano State Government has raised the alarm over the development. The Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, accused Ganduje of making provocative statements about the state’s vulnerability to banditry. Wayya said suspected bandits infiltrated border communities less than 48 hours after Ganduje’s comments, linking the situation to what he described as “inflammatory statements” by the former governor and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.

“The council deliberated extensively over the recent inflammatory statements by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who alleged that the state was vulnerable to banditry, and further announced plans to recruit 12,000 individuals under a proposed religious police outfit named Khairul Nas,” Waiya said.

He urged security agencies to investigate and arrest Ganduje over what he described as an attempt to float an illegal militia group.

Ganduje dismissed the allegations as baseless and reckless, insisting he had never been associated with violence nor linked to acts capable of destabilising Kano.

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