Kawu Sumaila: The “Stubborn Boy” Who Walked Away – A Political Tale of Defiance and Direction.
By Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu
April 25, 2025
In the dense, ever-changing atmosphere of Kano’s political landscape, drama is never far away. And this week, it arrived with a familiar face and a fresh twist.
Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila, a name that once echoed through the chambers of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) like a marching drum, has finally taken a bold leap – straight into the arms of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But if you were expecting tears, eulogies, or even polite farewell messages from his former political family, think again.
“We’re relieved. He was a stubborn boy,” said Hashimu Dungurawa, NNPP’s Kano State Chairman, with a shrug that said it all. “Among the children in the party, he was the one always causing trouble.”
Those words, sharp as they are telling, didn’t just echo through the NNPP’s modest headquarters. They traveled across the state, carried by the murmurs of party loyalists and whispered through the alleys of political speculation. For months, the air had been thick with rumors – that Kawu was unhappy, that he was plotting, that he was waiting for the right time to jump ship.
His defection, formally embraced by APC’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, is being celebrated in the ruling party’s camp as a strategic gain – one more influential voice now singing in their choir. But to Dungurawa and many in the NNPP inner circle, this wasn’t a loss. It was an overdue exhale.
“He had already been suspended,” Dungurawa added bluntly. “He wasn’t contributing any value. If anything, he was a distraction.”
But behind the words and political posturing lies a deeper story – one of ambition, ego, and unyielding defiance. Kawu Sumaila has never been one to blend in quietly. His career, peppered with strong opinions and sharp elbows, has always leaned toward the controversial. A former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, his influence in Kano runs deep – but so too does his reputation for independence, sometimes to a fault.
“He saw the NNPP as a stepping stone, not a home,” says a political analyst in Kano who preferred to remain anonymous. “Once it no longer served his vision, it was only a matter of time.”
Still, even critics admit: Kawu is no lightweight. His grassroots connection, especially in the southern parts of Kano State, makes him a potentially powerful asset for the APC – and a potential thorn in the side of the NNPP, should he choose to run again.
As for the NNPP, Dungurawa is choosing to look ahead, not back. “Now we can focus on rebuilding, on real unity,” he said. “No more noise.”
Yet the departure leaves a subtle, lingering question: was the party too quick to dismiss one of its boldest voices, or was it the only way forward?
In Kano politics, time will tell. And in time, the “stubborn boy” may either become a triumphant statesman in new colors – or a cautionary tale of a man who could not stay put.
Either way, the stage is set. And in this theatre of power, every defection is just the beginning of the next act.
