Sir Muhammadu Sanusi I (1905-1990 ), the grandfather of the present
Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II reigned for only five years as Emir
of Kano before he was forced to resign.
He was said not to be in the good books of the authorities of the
day due to his views which were considered offensive. He was perceived
to be too independent minded by the political authorities and a web of
intrigues were weaved around him in order to remove him as Emir. In the
course of his reign, a panel was set up to investigate alleged
misappropriation of the then Kano Native Authority’s funds and the Emir
alongside other members of the Native Authority were made to testify
before the commission with D.J.M Muffet as sole commissioner.
At the end of the inquiry, Muffet in his report advised the
Regional Government that Sir Muhammadu Sanusi I should resign. He
therefore tendered his resignation to the Governor of the Northern
Region, Sir Kashim Ibrahim on 28th of March 1963.
It will appear that the present Emir, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is
facing same circumstances. He has made some salient points on the
economy and some policies Governor Ganduje sees as offensive.
As a successful banker and risk manager with track records in the
industry, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now Muhammadu Sanusi II, became the
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from where he later mounted the
throne as the Emir of Kano after being suspended from office as CBN
governor by the then Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan when he
alleged that $20b was missing from the treasury.
The power elites in Kano state then, led by the Governor, Rabiu
Musa Kwankwaso, who has now also turned into a political adversary of
Governor Ganduje, despite public resistance by the public, were clearly
instrumental in the selection of Sanusi II as the 14th Emir of Kano. He
was turbaned on 8th of June 2014 after the death of his grand uncle and
13th Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero 1930-2014.
Sanusi’s ‘sins’
Sanusi II is known for his criticisms on matters of social and
economic development in Kano and Nigeria at large, offering advice and
suggestions even when they seem to be displeasing to the political
powers especially on the Girl Child Education and issues on family
planning. His ordeals with the Kano state governor dated back to 2017.
In one of such bold reactions on government plans in April 2017
Sanusi II challenged the Kano state governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje while
delivering a keynote address at a function in Kaduna, on the governor’s
plan to secure a loan of $1.85b from a Chinese Development Bank that
would fund 85% of a Light Rail project to be constructed by a Chinese
company CR18G-CRECG. The project was for the construction of a 74
kilometer facility in the state with the intention of reducing traffic
on the roads and to ease commercial activities.
Rubbishing the plan, Sanusi II said that the plan to build the
Light Rail project was built on a shaky foundation. He said, “we have
governors, they go to China and spend one month on a tour and come back
with MoU on debts.
“China will lend you $1.8b to build light rail. This light rail
will be done by workers from China, the trains will come from China,
the engines will come from China, the labor will come from China while
the driver is Chinese.
“At the end of the day, what do you benefit from them? Your
citizens will ride on a train and when you ride on a train in northern
Nigeria, in a state like Kano or Katsina, where are you going to? You
are not going to industrial estate to work. You are not going to school.
You are not going to the farm. You borrow money from China to invest in
trains so that your citizens can ride on them to go for weddings and
naming ceremonies.”
This did not go down well with the political powers in the state
and in a swift reaction, the State House of Assembly accused Sanusi II
of spreading false information against Governor Ganduje on his trip to
China. He was also accused of spending the funds of the Emirate without
the approval of the governor or the House of Assembly. As a result, a
probe was established with a view to indicting him and subsequently
dethroning him.
Also, Emir Sanusi II was accused of not supporting Ganduje but seen
to have soft spot for the opposition candidate in the last general
election that was declared inconclusive in Kano by the Independent
National Electoral Commission INEC.
It was clear that Sanusi II was going to have problems with
Governor Ganduje. On the day INEC declared Governor Ganduje winner of
the inconclusive election, the APC supporters trooped to the Government
House Kano to celebrate with the governor. In the course of the wild
celebration they chanted songs calling for the removal of Sanusi II
saying; “Tsohon gwamna sabon sarki” meaning “we support the incumbent
governor and want a new Emir”. They didn’t stop there, they went to the
Coronation House where the governor addressed them and they destroyed
portraits and pictures of Emir Sanusi II.
However, Sanusi II managed to survive with the intervention of some
dignitaries in the country among whom were Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, Sultan of Sokoto and former Presidents Ibrahim Babangida and
Abubakar Abdulsalam. Following this intervention, the State Assembly as
well as the Public Complaints and Anti-Graft Commission closed the case.
In a swift reaction, Sanusi II had no choice than to apologize to
Governor Ganduje at a grand reception he organized in his honor at his
palace asking him to be a forgiving leader.
Creation of new Emirates
Thereafter, the state government in a political move meant to cut
Emir Sanusi II to size by creating four new Emirates of the same first
class status as his as well as indict him for alleged misappropriation
of funds in order to dethrone him. The State House of Assembly would, on
one hand, ensure that the powerful Emirate was broken into five
Emirates of the same status while, on the other hand, the State Public
Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission would reopen an earlier probe
on the issue of the Emirates funds.
With this plan in place a petition by some legal practitioners in
the state led by Mr Salisu Ibrahim called on the state Assembly to
create four new Emirates by amending the Emirate law thereby cutting
down the size of the Kano Emirate and revisiting history to upgrade some
old chiefdoms. The assembly immediately consented and adopted it. Four
additional first class Emirate Councils were then created by the
Assembly within 48 hours in Karaye, Rano, Bichi and Gaya making Kano the
fifth. Out of the former 43 local government areas under the Kano
Emirate, only 10 are now under it in the new arrangement.
As the Assembly was deliberating on the Bill, the state governor
revealed to newsmen that he would sign it to law as soon as it gets to
his table. Subsequently the Assembly passed the amendment into law and
the governor assented to it thereby making it the fastest law ever in
this part of the country. This action was however not without opposition
from some concerned Kano citizens.
A member of the royal house stated that Ganduje had erred by
involving the institution of the Emirate arguing that the governor
should have limited his action to Sanusi II by simply dethroning him and
not breaking the Kano Emirate into five.
Other concerned Kano citizens then went ahead to institute a suit
against the move by the state Assembly. Ruling in an ex parte motion
dated May 10, 2019, being Friday, and filed by Hon. Sule Gwarzo, Justice
Nasiru Saminu restrained Governor Ganduje, Kano House of Assembly, the
Speaker, Clerk of the Assembly, the Attorney General and the state
Printer from implementing the division of Kano into five Emirates.
In an order of interim injunction, the court directed all the
parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and
determination of the motion on notice.
It was not clear if this order was served on the parties concerned
on Friday and Governor Ganduje went ahead to make appointments. He then
issued staff of office to the newly appointed Emirs in the new Emirates
at the weekend, while he received the court order on Tuesday, four days
after.
Alhaji Ibrahim AbdulKadir was appointed as Emir of Gaya, Alhaji
Tafida Abubakar Ila as Emir of Rano, Dr. Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar II as
Emir of Karaye while the son of the late Emir Ado Bayero, Alhaji Aminu
Ado Bayero was appointed as the Emir of Bichi.
On the other hand, the corruption charges were still on. The former
Personal Secretary of Emir Sanusi II, Isah Bayero is among those to be
quizzed by the panel even as as he is now seen as a strong supporter of
the moves by Governor Ganduje to unseat Emir Sanusi.
Isah was said to have evidence which would be used by investigators
to prosecute the Emir who is charged with spending N6b without the
consent of the state government or the Assembly. Some structures in
palace were said to have been modernized by destroying the artifacts
inherited from past Emirs.
Dangote’s intervention saves Emir
Interestingly, there was no intervention from the Arewa
Consultative Forum, the Sultan of Sokoto, other state governors or the
Presidency on the matter. Sanusi II was therefore left to himself.
However, the business tycoon Aliko Dangote was said to have been
the only one who, from the beginning pleaded with Governor Ganduje not
to remove the Emir but Ganduje insisted.
Sources from government said the governor gave Dangote some
conditions which must be met in order to save the Emir since the Emir
would not stop criticising the government.
The source said “Governor Ganduje’s response was that he told
Dangote to go back and tell the Emir that he should choose from three
alternatives: to resign on his own, to be removed from office or for the
government to create additional Emirates in the state. Ganduje assured
Dangote that one of the three options would be implemented by government
since the Emir would not stop playing partisan politics. But for the
quick intervention by Dangote, Ganduje would have dethroned the Emir”, the source revealed.
Source: Vanguard
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