The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, to report at the Force Headquarters in Abuja for questioning.
The invitation is linked to the controversial 2024 suspension of Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which the police believe Dawakin-Tofa helped engineer.
In a letter dated May 23, 2025, and signed by Akin Fakorede, deputy commissioner of police, the IGP asked the Kano state government to release the governor’s aide for investigation.
The police said Dawakin-Tofa is being investigated for “criminal defamation, impersonation, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace”.
He is expected to appear before SP Mojirode Obisiji on May 29.
This is not the first time Dawakin-Tofa has come under police scrutiny.
In December 2024, he was similarly summoned over the same issue, prompting a legal showdown between the police and the Kano government.
At the centre of the controversy is a longstanding rivalry between Ganduje and Dawakin-Tofa, both of whom hail from the same Kano community.
Their feud dates back to 2015, when Ganduje, as governor-elect, reportedly ordered Dawakin-Tofa’s arrest over political opposition.
In April 2024, Ganduje was suspended by party executives in his ward — a move the APC leadership later nullified, but which triggered political tremors.
Ganduje alleged the suspension was orchestrated by Dawakin-Tofa in a bid to weaken his influence in Kano.
Following the initial police action, Dawakin-Tofa obtained a court injunction restraining the police, DSS, civil defence, and others from arresting or harassing him.
That order, however, has not stopped the renewed move by police authorities.
His legal team has since appealed a high court ruling that dismissed his suit against Ganduje and the police.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
