Ex-Kano LG chairman returns to tailoring after removal from office

• Former Kumbotso Local Government chairman Abdullahi Gali Shitu has returned to his tailoring business after the Kano State High Court removed him from office.

• Basaf said politics is temporary and urged politicians to have a sustainable profession or trade outside public office.

• He currently runs a tailoring workshop with about 20 apprentices and plans to expand it into a garment company employing at least 50 people.

• The Kano State High Court nullified his Certificate of Return in March 2026 and declared Ali Musa, popularly known as Hardworker, as the duly elected chairman of Kumbotso Local Government Area.

Former Chairman of Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State, Abdullahi Gali Shitu, popularly known as Comrade Abdullahi Gali Basaf, has returned to his tailoring business months after a court removed him from office, saying politics should never be treated as a permanent profession. 

Basaf, whose tenure as council chairman ended in March 2026 following a Kano State High Court judgment, said his decision to resume tailoring was meant to send a message that politicians should have sustainable means of livelihood outside public office. 

Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, the former council boss said public office is an opportunity to serve and should not be viewed as the only source of income.

According to him, tailoring has been his primary occupation for more than a decade and played a significant role in financing his political career.

"Tailoring is not a small trade. It is a major one. It sustains livelihoods. Even in politics, my tailoring business helped me financially to support my campaigns and organisations. Without it, it would have been impossible to sustain political activities," he said. 

Basaf currently operates a tailoring workshop in Sheka Ward, Kumbotso Local Government Area, where he supervises about 20 apprentices. He said he plans to expand the business into a garment manufacturing company capable of employing at least 50 people.

"My goal is to modernise tailoring, establish a garment company, and employ fifty or more people. I want to contribute to the economy," he added. 

He also encouraged young Nigerians to embrace vocational skills rather than relying solely on politics or white-collar jobs, stressing that skilled trades offer long-term stability.

"Politics can change overnight. You can be in office today and out tomorrow. But tailoring remains. It feeds you, it supports your family, and it allows you to help others," Basaf said, adding that he would remain active in politics despite returning to his trade. 

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Basaf holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Political Science but said tailoring has always remained his passion. Before becoming chairman of Kumbotso LGA, he founded the Kwankwasiyya Reporters platform in 2015, served as Kano State chairman of the Alliance National Party, contested for a Senate seat in 2019 and later joined the New Nigeria People's Party, where he served as Senior Special Assistant on Information. 

He won the Kumbotso chairmanship election in 2024, but his tenure ended in March 2026 after the Kano State High Court nullified his Certificate of Return, ruling that it had been issued in breach of an earlier court order. The court subsequently declared Ali Musa, popularly known as Hardworker, as the duly elected chairman and ordered his swearing-in.