A report filed by the Department of State Security Service (DSS) has exposed how the embattled Kano State commissioner for Transport, Ibrahim Namadi, allegedly collected $30,000 bribe from a notorious drug dealer, Sulaiman Danwawu, to stand as his surety.

Namadi, once declared wanted by the police for fraud and later charged with criminal offences in 2013, was appointed as commissioner by Governor Abba Yusuf.

Recall that Namadi had stood surety for Danwawu after Justice MS Shu’aibu imposed stringent bail conditions.

While granting the bail application on July 16, the judge ordered the accused to produce a serving commissioner and member of the Kano State Executive Council as a surety as well as a deposit of ₦5 milion.

In a letter dated 18 July, 2025 and addressed to the deputy chief registrar of the Federal High Court, Kano, Namadi applied to stand as a surety to Mr Danwawu.

After widespread public condemnation, the governor constituted an investigative panel to probe the suretyship scandal and submit a report within one week.

DSS sources revealed to Daily Nigeria that the service had secretly investigated the bribe-for-bail scandal and also recommended the dismissal of the commissioner to the governor.

According to the DSS report, the commissioner was paid $30,000 dollars before agreeing to stand as surety for the notorious narco-trafficker.

“Governor Abba Yusuf sees the commissioner’s action as a direct affront to his government’s war against drug abuse,” said another source.

“Some months ago, the state security council, which is chaired by the governor himself, resolved that the only solution to checking the influx of illicit drugs into Kano was to arrest Danwawu.

“The governor therefore approved a discreet operation to arrest Danwawu, which CP Bakori successfully executed.”

It was gathered that the Governor Abba Yusuf wanted to sack the commissioner immediately but suspended the plan after allegedly “consulting” the NNPP former presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

According to the aforementioned publication, the commissioner who was recommended for the position by Kwankwaso, was reluctantly appointed by the governor.

A source said: “The commissioner has many scandals but the governor’s hands are tied because he does not want to be disloyal to Kwankwaso. Currently, the commissioner is fighting with the state chairman of NURTW, Kabiru Labour, for imposing on the union a payment of mandatory N500,000 “return” monthly.”

According to sources, the frosty relationship between the governor and the embattled commissioner has caused an administrative logjam. This has resulted in more than 30 memos from the Ministry of Transport been either marked “keep in view”, “see me” or unapproved by the governor.

“Owing to the commissioner’s incompetence as well as lack of harmony with his permanent secretary, the governor is often sidelining the ministry even in matters that directly affect it. Recently, a memo was presented before the Kano State Executive Council for the purchase of solar tricycles, but the Ministry of Transport was not the initiator of the memo,” said a source.

When contacted to respond, Namadi denied all the allegations, saying “I’m not aware of all the allegations you mentioned, it’s not true.”

But a few minutes after the phone call with Namadi, the state commissioner for information, Ibrahim Waiya, reached out to Daily Nigerian, accusing the platform of harassing his colleague.