Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Biography: Early Life, Career, Wives, Children & Net Worth
Mohammed Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (born October 21, 1956) is a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Kano State from 1999 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. After losing his re-election in 2003, he became the Fourth Republic’s first Minister of Defence with no prior military background, serving from 2003 to 2007 under President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was later elected to the Senate in 2015, where he represented the Kano Central Senatorial District for one term on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was born on October 21, 1956, in Kano, into a Muslim household. His father served as the village head of Kwankwaso with the title of Sarkin Fulanin Kwankwaso before being promoted to the position of District Head of Madobi with the title of Majidadin Kano, Hakimin Madobi by the Kano Emirate Council, led by the 13th Fulani Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero CFR, LLD, JP.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Educational Qualifications
He attended Kwankwaso Primary School, Gwarzo Boarding Senior Primary School, Wudil Craft School, and Kano Technical College before enrolling at Kaduna Polytechnic, where he completed both his National Diploma and Higher National Diploma.
Kwankwaso was an active student leader at school and an elected official of the Kano State Students Association. He also pursued postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom from 1982 to 1983 at Middlesex Polytechnic and Loughborough University of Technology, where he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1985. He was also awarded a PhD in civil engineering from Sharda University in India in 2022.
Career
Kwankwaso began working for the Kano State Water Resources and Engineering Construction Agency of the Kano State Government in 1975. He worked there for seventeen years in various roles, rising through the ranks to become the main water engineer.
Kwankwaso first entered politics in 1992, running for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was a member of the People’s Front faction of the SDP, which was led by General Shehu Yar’adua and included 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.
Kwankwaso was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, representing the Madobi Federal Constituency. His subsequent election as deputy speaker of the House thrust him into the spotlight of national politics. Kwankwaso was elected as a Kano delegate to the 1995 Constitutional Conference, representing the People’s Democratic Movement led by Yar’adua.
He eventually joined the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) as part of General Sani Abacha’s political transition program.
Kwankwaso was elected to his first term as Kano State governor on May 29, 1999, and served till May 29, 2003. His first term as governor of Kano State was tumultuous due to opposition from various parties to his autocratic rule and attempts to promote Yoruba President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He was defeated by Ibrahim Shekarau in the 2003 re-election race. Kwankwaso was re-elected governor of Kano State for a second term, serving from May 29, 2011, until May 29, 2015. During this period, he began to restructure his own political structure, known as the Kwankwassiya movement, by building roads, hospitals, and schools, as well as sending residents to study overseas.
Kwankwaso joined the G-7 faction inside the Peoples Democratic Party in August 2013, together with seven other serving governors. Kwankwaso and five other G-7 members switched to the new opposition group, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in November 2013.
In June 2014, Kwankwaso clashed with Kano’s long-time Emir Ado Bayero over the selection of Waziri (Vizier) of the Kano Emirate Council. On June 6, 2014, Ado Bayero died, sparking a succession crisis among the royals.
On June 8, 2014, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was removed as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Dan Majen Kano (son of Emir-Maje) was named the next Emir of Kano. His accession sparked huge demonstrations from supporters of Sanusi Ado Bayero, the late Emir’s son and Chiroman Kano (Crown Prince), as well as suspicions that Kwankwaso supported Sanusi in the 2015 presidential race.
Kwankwaso indicated in 2014 that he would run for President of Nigeria as part of the newly formed opposition party, the APC. He ran in the party’s primary election in Lagos, finishing second to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who went on to win the 2015 general election and become President of Nigeria.
After a dispute with his former Deputy Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, Kwankwaso departed from the APC and affiliated himself with the PDP.
In 2022, Kwankwaso departed from the PDP and affiliated himself with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Wife
Rabiu Kwankwaso is blissfully married to Salamatu Rabiu Musa. They married in 2000.
Rabiu Kwankwaso Children
He has two children named A’isha, Al-Amin, and Mustapha Kwankwaso.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Net Worth
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s net worth is projected to be around $950 million in 2025.
Social Media
X: @KwankwasoRM
