Kebbi government denies role in demolition of property linked to ex-AGF Malami

The Kebbi State Government has denied any involvement in the demolition of a property associated with former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in Birnin Kebbi, saying the incident arose from a private land ownership dispute rather than political persecution. The disputed building is located near Azbir Hotel along Sani Abacha Bypass in the state capital, and had served as an office for the Malami Pressure Group, a political support organisation.

Addressing journalists on Monday, November 2, 2026, the state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Yakubu Ahmed-BK, said Governor Nasir Idris' administration neither authorised nor participated in the demolition. He accused the African Democratic Congress of politicising the incident and of portraying the government as hostile to opposition parties without providing evidence linking it to the exercise, and argued that the fact that a building was demolished does not automatically mean the state government was responsible.

According to the commissioner, preliminary investigations and documents presented by a businessman, Umaru Mohammed Gulumbe, indicated that the dispute turned on competing claims to ownership of the land. He said Gulumbe presented a Certificate of Occupancy bearing the signature of former Kebbi State Governor Adamu Aliero, alongside records of complaints he had earlier lodged with the police and the Ministry of Lands and Housing, and that committees set up to examine the competing claims concluded that the property belonged to Gulumbe. He challenged anyone disputing that ownership to approach a competent court.

Malami, who is associated with the ADC's governorship ambitions in the state, has petitioned the Kebbi State Commissioner of Police over the demolition, according to Daily Post, and the party says he has directed his lawyers to pursue legal action to establish ownership of the property and seek compensation for the destruction. In a statement, the ADC's Director of Strategic Media, Research and Policy Analysis, Abubakar Abdullahi, said Malami was shocked by what he described as an act of lawlessness, and alleged that political opponents carried out the demolition to provoke him and his supporters into actions capable of threatening peace in the state.

Videos of earth-moving equipment demolishing the building circulated on social media before the state government responded. The dispute adds to a growing list of land and demolition controversies across Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections, and now sits with the police and, potentially, the courts, with the state insisting that established procedures exist for resolving competing property claims.