Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who leads the government of Kano State in northern Nigeria, has approved a new round of appointments and promotions across important public institutions in the state.
The changes were announced in a statement issued on Monday, 2 February 2026, by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Dawakin-Tofa, Okay News reports.
According to the statement, Abubakar Matawalle has been appointed as Acting Director-General of the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, the government agency that supports Muslim pilgrims from Kano State during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The spokesperson said Yusuf Mukhtar was also promoted to the rank of Permanent Secretary, a top-level position in the state civil service that oversees major administrative work in government ministries and departments.
In another appointment, Rahama Alhaji was named Provost of the Kano State Anti-Corruption Institute, a public institution set up to support integrity, ethics, and anti-corruption training within the state’s governance system.
The statement also announced the promotion of veteran actress Aina’u Ade from Special Assistant to Senior Special Assistant on Kannywood Affairs. Kannywood is the Hausa-language film industry based largely in Kano, one of Nigeria’s biggest centres for entertainment and creative work in the north.
Dawakin-Tofa said Matawalle previously served as Executive Secretary of the Pilgrims Welfare Board and later as Permanent Secretary in the Establishment office, before he retired from the Kano State Civil Service in 2014. He described Matawalle as a public administrator with long experience in managing Hajj-related operations and government processes.
He said, “Matawalle is a seasoned administrator who rose from the position of Assistant Secretary to Permanent Secretary and distinguished himself in the management of Hajj operations over the years.”
On Rahama Alhaji’s appointment, the spokesperson described her as a legal practitioner with experience in litigation, corporate law, regulatory compliance, and academic administration.
He said, “Her appointment reflects the governor’s commitment to strengthening anti-corruption institutions with professionals of proven integrity, competence, and administrative capacity.”
The statement added that Aina’u Ade’s promotion followed what it described as strong performance in her earlier role supporting government engagement with the Kannywood sector.
Governor Yusuf urged the new appointees and promoted officials to justify the confidence placed in them through hard work, transparency, and loyalty to the Kano First Agenda, a governance programme linked to his administration’s priorities for the state.
All the appointments and promotions take immediate effect.
The statement also noted that the latest changes come a few days after another round of appointments and promotions aimed at strengthening governance and improving service delivery across key sectors. In that earlier round, Abdulkadir Kankarofi was appointed as Special Adviser on Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Executive Governor.
