A United States-based Professor of Journalism and columnist, Farooq Kperogi, has offered an alternative perspective on why former Kano State governor and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, was singled out in a controversial bill before the US House of Representatives alleging religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
The proposed legislation, titled Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026, introduced by Representatives Chris Smith, Riley Moore, Brian Mast and Bill Huizenga, recommends visa bans and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act against individuals and entities accused of complicity in religious persecution.
Among those named in the bill are Kwankwaso, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.
While the bill has sparked outrage within Nigeria’s political space, drawing sharp reactions from both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the NNPP, Kperogi argues that Kwankwaso’s inclusion may have less to do with religious extremism and more to do with his public criticism of a previous US policy position.
In an opinion article published on Thursday titled “Why Kwankwaso Was Singled Out in a US Bill,” Kperogi said he was initially surprised that Kwankwaso, among northern Muslim politicians, was named in the proposed sanctions.
According to him, anyone familiar with Kwankwaso’s political trajectory would find it difficult to associate him with religious fanaticism.
Kperogi recalled covering the political intrigues surrounding the adoption of Sharia law in Kano in 2000, noting that Kwankwaso was reluctant and resistant to declaring Sharia at the time, a position that reportedly put him at odds with the clerical establishment and segments of the Muslim population in the state.
He noted that Kano’s Sharia law was introduced through a private bill rather than a government-sponsored one, and that Kwankwaso faced intense pressure, public hostility and political risks before eventually announcing its adoption.
Kperogi cited Kwankwaso’s speech at the formal launch of Sharia, where he cautioned against intimidation of non-Muslims and warned citizens not to take the law into their hands, as evidence that he did not display the rhetoric of a religious extremist.
He further argued that Kwankwaso’s perceived lukewarm implementation of Sharia contributed to his electoral defeat in 2003 to Ibrahim Shekarau, who was backed by the clerical establishment.
According to Kperogi, the turning point may have been Kwankwaso’s public criticism of the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious persecution.
Kwankwaso had argued at the time that the designation oversimplified Nigeria’s complex security challenges and risked worsening interreligious tensions.
Kperogi noted that US lawmaker Riley Moore reacted sharply on social media, accusing Kwankwaso of complicity in the death of Christians and referencing his role in implementing Sharia in Kano.
He suggested that Kwankwaso’s inclusion in the bill may be more connected to that exchange and his dissent from US policy rather than his actual record in office.
Meanwhile, both the APC and the NNPP have rejected the proposed sanctions, describing them as premature, unjust and based on allegations rather than proven facts.
The APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, who spoke to Punch Newspaper noted that the United States, as a symbol of democracy, should not act solely on allegations without giving the accused a fair hearing.
“Whatever the allegation against former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, remains an allegation until it is proven. It would be wrong to suggest a ban or restriction without substantiating it through due process,” he said.
The NNPP, at a press conference in Abuja, described the move as blackmail and questioned why Kwankwaso was singled out when other northern governors also implemented Sharia in their states.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, pointed out that Kwankwaso had run his 2023 presidential campaign with a Christian running mate and maintained cordial relationships with Christian leaders over the years.
Johnson also recalled that Kwankwaso had publicly cautioned against what he described as oversimplified characterisations of Nigeria’s internal challenges when US President Donald Trump re-designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
He questioned whether the timing of the bill and Kwankwaso’s opposition status in Nigeria were merely coincidental.
The US bill represents one of the strongest congressional condemnations yet of religious persecution in Nigeria, claiming that the country accounts for 82 per cent of Christians killed globally and calling for targeted sanctions and possible designation of certain Fulani-ethnic militias as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.
However, observers note that the bill is still at the introductory stage and must pass several legislative hurdles before it can become law.