—Zaria, Sabon Gari, Giwa homeowners benefit
-Receives ADC heavyweights into APC in Kaduna
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA –THE Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani has paid ₦2 billion in compensation to 865 property owners affected by township road projects in Zaria, Sabon Gari and Giwa.
This makes the total sum the Uba Sani administration has paid so far to over ₦6.85 billion in direct compensation to citizens affected by public works — putting people at the centre of infrastructure.
The Governor handed over the cheques at Unguwan Iya, Zaria, in the presence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen; Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas; former Governor Ramalan Yero, and other senior officials.
The payout reflects the administration’s policy of compensating residents before demolition — a clear break from the past, when infrastructure projects often displaced people without redress.
With this arrangement, affected property owners along the township road corridors can be relocated or compensated without loss, allowing construction to proceed without delay.
This follows the administration’s earlier compensation exercises, including ₦2.85 billion disbursed in February 2026 for road projects across the state, and ₦2 billion paid in July 2026 to about 1,000 victims of the Rigasa-Tudun Wada flood and erosion control project.
Speaking after receiving his cheque, one of the beneficiaries from Zaria, Malam Ibrahim Ahmed, said: “For the first time, government paid us before bringing down our properties. We can now find alternative accommodation without suffering. We thank Governor Uba Sani for remembering the common man.”
Another beneficiary from Sabon Gari, Hajiya Fatima Suleiman, said “We were afraid when we heard the road would pass through our houses. But today we have received our compensation in full. This is true leadership — development with human face.”
Traditional rulers, community leaders and political party leaders described the event as a validation of the link between leadership and compassion.
In what some attendees described as “political tsunami”, the event also witnessed a massive defection as Governor Uba Sani received a wave of heavyweights and their thousands of followers into the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Leading the defectors from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) were political bigwigs Bashir Sa’idu, Senator Audu Kwari, Hon. Mohammed Sani Bello Mainan Zazzau, Hon. Jafaru Sani, Hon. Mukhtar Hazo, Hon. Bala Alwa’u, Hon. Nasiru Abdullahi Maikano, Hon. Lawal Buba, Hon. Ephraim Iliyasu and others.
The defectors cited the Governor’s inclusive leadership, visible infrastructure delivery and people-centred compensation policy as reasons for abandoning the ADC for the APC.
The development, according to observers, further consolidates the APC’s dominance in Kaduna North senatorial zone ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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