[3] He was a Senator in the Second Nigerian Republic and was elected governor of Kano State in October 1983, holding office briefly until the military coup on 31 December 1983 that brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power.
Zuwo enrolled himself at the age of sixteen at Shahuchi Primary School Adult Literacy Class in 1950 to 1954; among his tutors was Maitama Sule.
[5] In the 1983 Kano State gubernatorial elections, he defeated former governor Abubakar Rimi, who had resigned earlier that year and defected to the Nigerian People's Party (NPP).
[8] In a popular gesture, he closed down the Palace Cinema in Kano, which had become a venue for young men to take drugs and engage in sex, and converted it to a clinic.
[6] Before his death he had aligned with the People's Front of Nigeria led by General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua together with some Kano State politicians, such as his deputy Governor Wada Abubakar, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, and Rabiu Kwankwaso.