Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has instructed Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, to travel to Kano State in northern Nigeria at the head of a senior federal delegation to sympathise with victims of the Singer Market fire and offer support to affected traders.
A statement issued from the State House and signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the delegation is due to depart Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Monday, February 16, 2026.
The statement said the team will convey the President’s condolences to traders who lost goods and property described as worth billions of Nigerian naira (₦) in a weekend fire that swept through the market. It added that the incident was the second such fire at the same market within two weeks.
The delegation is also expected to pledge financial assistance on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria, while supporting Kano State authorities in efforts aimed at reopening the market as quickly as possible.
Those listed as part of the delegation include Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, and Barau Jibrin, Deputy President of Nigeria’s Senate. Also named were Senator Kawu Ismaila and Abubakar Kabir Bichi, Chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee.
The statement added that the team includes Doctor Bernard M. Doro, Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Zubaida Umar, Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
It also said President Tinubu earlier spoke by telephone with Abba Kabir Yusuf, Governor of Kano State, to express his condolences to the traders and the people of the state.
According to the statement, the fire began on Saturday evening, February 14, 2026, and continued into Sunday morning, February 15, 2026, West African Time (WAT, GMT+1), causing extensive damage at the market, which it described as Nigeria’s largest food market.
The President, the statement said, was particularly alarmed that the latest incident came less than two weeks after an earlier fire that destroyed dozens of shops and property at the same location.
The statement said President Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the repeated market fires, noting that recurring outbreaks have continued to undermine traders’ livelihoods and leave many struggling to recover.