Former Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has unveiled plans to establish a Hisbah-like voluntary organisation under the Ganduje Foundation as a means of engaging the 12,000 personnel dismissed by the Kano State Hisbah Board.
Ganduje, who also served as the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the announcement while receiving a verification report on the affected officers. He described their disengagement by the current administration as unjust and politically motivated.
The report was presented by the Director-General of the National Productivity Centre, Dr. Baffa Babba Dan-Agundi, who chaired the committee tasked with confirming the identities and contacts of the dismissed staff.
Dan-Agundi, who previously served as Director-General of the Kano Roads and Traffic Agency (KAROTA) under Ganduje’s administration, said the committee had successfully verified all 12,000 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,” Dan-Agundi said.
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Reacting, Ganduje revealed that the proposed outfit would operate independently and would not function as a government agency.
“It will be known as Independent Hisbah. I know there are many others who will want to join aside from this 12,000. You’ll soon be given another mandate of getting more people to join,” he stated.
The gathering was attended by notable political allies, including his former deputy and APC governorship candidate in the 2023 elections, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna; his running mate, Murtala Sule Garo; Kano APC Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas; and the Managing Director of the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA), Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi.
The proposed outfit—expected to be named Khairun Nas—will be headed by Ganduje’s former Commander-General of Hisbah, Sheikh Muhammad Harun Ibn Sina. Speaking at the event, Ibn Sina emphasised that the organisation would be a voluntary body with moral and humanitarian functions similar to Hisbah but without operating as a parallel government institution.
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“The 12,000 officers engaged during his tenure and dismissed by this government complained to him. He said an independent body could be established, but not an agency, as that one only government could do,” Ibn Sina explained.
He added that while the organisation has not been formally launched, it would be open to both the disengaged officers and other interested individuals. On the issue of remuneration, Ibn Sina noted that although the outfit would be voluntary, support from philanthropists and organisations might provide stipends.
He further stated that the mandate of the body would include “enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, providing first aid, admonition, and assistance to people.”