Governance activities in Kano State have reportedly slowed following a directive by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf instructing ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to suspend the submission of official files to his office.

The directive, which has triggered administrative gridlock across government offices, was communicated to commissioners by the Secretary to the State Government, Farouk Ibrahim, at the end of the State Executive Council meeting held on December 18, 2025, and chaired by the governor.

Sources disclosed that numerous files that had accumulated at the Kano Government House since September were returned to MDAs, pending further instructions from the governor.

The development comes amid heightened political activities involving Governor Yusuf, who has been engaged in a series of meetings in Kano and Abuja as part of consultations ahead of a possible defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Meanwhile, the governor’s planned defection has reportedly hit a major hurdle, with the APC leadership refusing to accede to his key demands. Governor Yusuf is seeking a written guarantee of an automatic APC gubernatorial ticket for the 2027 elections as a condition for joining the party.

Sources familiar with the negotiations disclosed that the governor is also demanding the right to nominate a minister to represent Kano State in the Federal Executive Council, as well as the authority to replace existing Kano-based federal appointees with his loyalists.

However, the APC leadership at both state and national levels has reportedly rejected these conditions, insisting that party primaries and internal processes cannot be bypassed for any defector. A senior APC figure in the North-West, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the party would not compromise its internal democratic standards.

As political uncertainty deepens, observers say the suspension of official file processing has raised concerns about governance continuity in the state, with many MDAs awaiting further directives from the governor’s office.