Abubakar and Sa’adatu Rimi occupy connected but unequal places in Nigeria’s political history. Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi is remembered as the first elected civilian governor of Kano State, a leading member of the People’s Redemption Party and one of the most prominent progressive politicians of Nigeria’s Second Republic. Hajiya Sa’adatu Abubakar Rimi is less extensively documented, but her name remains associated with education in Kano and with the shocking killing that took place at the family residence in January 2006.
Their story brings together public service, ideological conflict, electoral politics, family life and personal tragedy. It also reflects the wider history of northern Nigerian politics during the transition from military government to the civilian administration inaugurated in 1979.
Abubakar Rimi and Kano’s Return to Civilian Government
Nigeria returned to elected civilian rule on 1 October 1979 after more than thirteen years of military government. The new political order, known as the Second Republic, introduced an American-style presidential system at federal and state levels.
In Kano State, the 1979 governorship election was won by Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi, the candidate of the People’s Redemption Party, commonly known as the PRP. He took office on 1 October 1979 as the state’s first elected civilian governor.
The Kano State that Rimi governed was larger than the state that exists today. It included the territory from which Jigawa State was created in August 1991. His administration therefore governed communities that are now divided between Kano and Jigawa States.
Rimi’s victory reflected the influence of a radical political tradition that had developed in Kano during the late colonial period. That tradition was closely associated with the Northern Elements Progressive Union, or NEPU, which challenged the conservative political establishment and campaigned for the interests of ordinary people.
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The People’s Redemption Party inherited much of NEPU’s language, organisation and popular following. Led nationally by Mallam Aminu Kano, the PRP presented itself as the party of the talakawa, the ordinary people who faced poverty, heavy taxation and limited political influence.
Rimi had served as the PRP’s deputy national secretary before emerging as the party’s governorship candidate in Kano. His election placed one of the movement’s most energetic younger leaders in control of Nigeria’s most populous northern state.
The Reform Programme of the Rimi Government
The Rimi administration entered office with an ambitious programme of social and economic reform. Among its earliest and best-known actions was the abolition of the haraji and jangali taxes.
The haraji was a personal or community levy, while the jangali was principally associated with cattle ownership. Both had deep roots in the systems of taxation administered in northern Nigeria before and during British colonial rule. Their abolition was particularly significant for poorer households, farmers and pastoralists.
Rimi’s government also placed considerable emphasis on education. Its policies included programmes intended to expand access to schooling, adult literacy and educational assistance. These initiatives reflected the PRP’s belief that government should reduce inequality by making public services more widely available.
The administration invested in state-controlled media and public communication. Institutions associated with the period included City Television, Radio Kano and the Triumph Publishing Company. The Triumph newspaper organisation became influential in public debate and produced publications in English, Hausa and Ajami.
Rimi also cultivated close relations with organised labour. His government presented workers and trade unions as important participants in the political and economic life of the state. This approach strengthened his reputation among supporters who believed that government should respond directly to the needs of wage earners and other disadvantaged groups.
His policies made him one of the best-known populist governors of the Second Republic. They also brought his administration into conflict with powerful political, administrative and traditional interests.
The PRP Crisis: Aminu Kano and Abubakar Rimi
The People’s Redemption Party entered the Second Republic as a movement united by opposition to conservative political power. Once the party began exercising authority in Kano and Kaduna States, disagreements developed over ideology, discipline, leadership and relations with the federal government.
The conflict divided the PRP into two camps commonly known as the Tabo and Santsi factions. The group associated with Mallam Aminu Kano was known as Tabo, while the faction associated with Abubakar Rimi and other radical party figures was called Santsi.
The dispute concerned the authority of the national party leadership, the independence of PRP governors and the political direction the movement should follow. It became one of the most serious internal divisions within any major party of the Second Republic.
The Federal Electoral Commission recognised the Aminu Kano faction as the official leadership of the PRP. As the dispute intensified, Rimi and his supporters began searching for another political platform from which to contest the approaching 1983 elections.
Rimi eventually left the PRP and joined the Nigerian People’s Party, the NPP. In May 1983, he resigned as governor of Kano State. His deputy, Alhaji Abdu Dawakin Tofa, succeeded him and served during the remaining months of the civilian administration.
Rimi contested the August 1983 Kano governorship election as the NPP candidate. He was defeated by Alhaji Sabo Bakin Zuwo of the PRP.
The election took place during a troubled period in Nigerian politics. Allegations of electoral manipulation, intimidation and violence weakened public confidence across the country. The Second Republic ended on 31 December 1983 when the military overthrew the government of President Shehu Shagari.
Abubakar and Sa’adatu Rimi in Kano’s History
While Abubakar Rimi’s political career is extensively recorded, much less has been published about the early life, education and personal activities of Sa’adatu Rimi.
She is most frequently identified in public accounts as the wife of the former governor. Her name later became permanently associated with education through Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education in Kumbotso, Kano State.
The institution was established by the Kano State Government in 1981 as the Advanced Teachers’ College, Waje. It was renamed the College of Education, Kumbotso, in 1982 and later underwent further administrative changes following the creation of Jigawa State.
The Kano State Government eventually renamed the institution in honour of Hajiya Sa’adatu Abubakar Rimi. Situated along Zaria Road in Kumbotso, the college has trained generations of teachers and remains an important part of Kano’s educational landscape.
The association of her name with the institution has ensured that Sa’adatu Rimi continues to be remembered within the public life of the state.
The Killing of Sa’adatu Rimi
On Saturday, 14 January 2006, Sa’adatu Rimi was found dead at the family residence in Kano. The killing attracted national attention because of her husband’s political prominence and the circumstances surrounding the crime.
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Abubakar Rimi was away from Kano when news of his wife’s death reached him. He had been attending an event marking the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and former Premier of Northern Nigeria.
Rimi returned to Kano after receiving the news. Political leaders and other prominent figures attended Sa’adatu’s funeral, reflecting the seriousness with which the incident was received.
The killing occurred during a period of growing political tension in Nigeria. One of the most divisive national issues at the time was the proposal to amend the Constitution in a way that could have allowed President Olusegun Obasanjo to seek another term in office.
Abubakar Rimi was among the prominent politicians who opposed the proposed extension. The political atmosphere contributed to public speculation about the circumstances of his wife’s death.
Police investigations led to arrests and criminal proceedings. The case continued for several years before a major judgement was delivered in 2013.
The 2013 Kano High Court Judgement
In April 2013, Justice Lawal Wada of Kano State High Court 7 delivered judgement in the prosecution of Mustapha Rimi, the principal defendant publicly connected to the case.
The defendant had faced a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide. The court ruled that the prosecution had not proved those offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The court nevertheless convicted him of theft after finding that he had been in possession of two mobile telephones belonging to Sa’adatu Rimi. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The judgement did not produce a conviction for her killing, nor did it identify the person or persons responsible for her death.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Sa’adatu Rimi’s younger brother, Alhaji Bamanga Sambo, announced that relatives had instructed their lawyers to appeal against the decision. The family maintained that the judgement had not provided justice for her death.
The outcome left important questions surrounding the killing unanswered. Sa’adatu Rimi’s death had been established, but the prosecution did not secure a homicide conviction against the principal defendant.
Abubakar Rimi’s Later Political Career
Abubakar Rimi remained active in Nigerian politics after the fall of the Second Republic. He participated in later political movements and continued to speak on national affairs.
During the military government of General Sani Abacha, Rimi served as Federal Minister of Communications. He was also involved in political negotiations and organisations during Nigeria’s transition from military rule in the late 1990s.
Rimi became a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party, which emerged as the dominant political organisation at the beginning of the Fourth Republic. He later sought the party’s presidential nomination.
His political career extended from the radical politics of NEPU and the PRP to the party struggles of the Fourth Republic. Despite his involvement in later national politics, his public reputation remained closely tied to his years as governor of Kano State and to the reform programme of the Second Republic.
Abubakar Rimi died on 4 April 2010 after falling ill while returning to Kano from Bauchi. His death ended a political career that had lasted for several decades.
Conclusion
The history of Abubakar and Sa’adatu Rimi reaches beyond the biography of a former governor and his wife. It reflects the political expectations that accompanied Nigeria’s return to civilian government in 1979, the reforming ambitions of the People’s Redemption Party and the internal conflicts that weakened the progressive movement before the collapse of the Second Republic.
Abubakar Rimi’s administration left a recognisable record in taxation, education, labour relations and public media. His political career also demonstrated the difficulty of maintaining unity within a movement divided by questions of ideology, leadership and electoral ambition.
Sa’adatu Rimi’s story represents a different side of political history. Her name survives through a major educational institution in Kano, while her killing in 2006 remains one of the most painful events associated with the Rimi family.
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The principal prosecution reported in 2013 resulted in a conviction for theft but not for culpable homicide. The judgement therefore left the central question of responsibility for her death unresolved.
Together, the stories of Abubakar and Sa’adatu Rimi illuminate the achievements, conflicts and personal costs that surrounded public life in Kano during one of the most important periods in modern Nigerian history.
Author’s Note
The history of Abubakar and Sa’adatu Rimi demonstrates that political legacies are created not only through elections and government policies, but also through the families, institutions and communities affected by power. Rimi’s reform programme remains an important chapter in the history of the Second Republic, while Sa’adatu’s name and tragic death remind us that the private consequences of political life can endure long after electoral contests and party divisions have ended.
References
Kano State Government. “History of Kano State.”
Modibbo, Rahila Ahmed. A History of Political Developments in Kano: 1940–1984, The Case of NEPU/PRP. Master of Arts thesis, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 2014.
Feinstein, Alan. African Revolutionary: The Life and Times of Nigeria’s Aminu Kano. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1987.
Usman, Yusufu Bala. The People’s Redemption Party and the Realignment of Political Parties in Nigeria, 1982–83. Zaria: Northern Nigerian Publishing Company, 1983.
Paden, John N. Religion and Political Culture in Kano. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
Adebayo, Akanmu G. “Jangali: Fulani Pastoralists and Colonial Taxation in Northern Nigeria.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Volume 28, Number 1, 1995.
Voice of America Hausa. “Wasu Mutane Sun Kashe Matar Alhaji Abubakar Rimi.” 15 January 2006.
News Agency of Nigeria. “Suspect in Rimi’s Wife Murder Gets Five-Year Jail Term.” Published by The Nation, 25 April 2013.
News Agency of Nigeria. “Family of Late Rimi’s Wife to Appeal Judgment.” Published by The Nation, 26 April 2013.
Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso. “History and Tradition.”
