Family visits Sanusi in Awe

••Presidency tackles Kwankwaso,says govs can remove monarchs

••Politics has destroyed our valuable tradition – Northern elders

••Kano govt denies banishment as Sanusi goes to court today

••New Kano emir weeps

TRACKING_____One of the wives of the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, visited him yesterday at his new abode in Awe town in Nasarawa State.

TrackNews reports that the wife of the dethroned emir arrived Awe at about 11.15 am along with three of the deposed emir’s children. She arrived in a white SUV with tinted glasses and was escorted by mobile policemen and officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) who were conveyed in two Toyota Hilux vans with Kaduna State Government number plates.

The Emir of Awe, Alhaji Umar Isa Abubakar; Chief of Azara, Dr Kabir Musa Ibrahim and Chairman of Awe Local Government Area, Alhaji Umar Da-Akano, were also said to have met with the deposed emir.
The people of the host community in Awe said they were overwhelmed with Sanusi’s presence but unhappy with his dethronement.

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje presents letter of appointment to Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, while the Deputy Governor, Dr. Nasiru Yussuf Gawuna, looks on at the Government House, Kano yesterday

A resident, Mallam Ibrahim Usman Fulani said: “I am a Fulani man who rears cows. When I heard the news, I rushed to town to confirm. I wanted to travel but I will not until I observe Friday congregational prayer with him. Many people are waiting for that historic moment,” he said. Locals said power supply was being rationed on one-day-on and one-day-off basis in the area. Awe is about 90 kilometres from Lafia, the capital of the state. It has a good tarred road but lacks basic amenities as residents buy water from vendors. A cart of 10 gallons containing 20 litres is sold for N200. Upon arrival, Sanusi II was taken to a two-bedroom bungalow with a guest house wing where he spent the night.

The apartment, TrackNews gathered, belongs to an official of Awe Local Government Area. According to a source, the place is a temporary abode for the ex-emir as another ‘befitting’ accommodation was being prepared for him.

Govs can appoint, remove monarchs – Presidency

The presidency said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari has no hand whatsoever in the dethronement of Sanusi II as Emir of Kano. Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, in a statement titled “Leave President Buhari out of the Kano Emirate Issue”, said such insinuations were untrue, malicious and politically motivated.

Former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, while speaking on a BBC Hausa programme, alleged that it was President Buhari that asked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to remove Sanusi. Kwankwaso said,

“Even the Kano government has stated that it is an order. The president is involving himself in Kano affairs; but where he is expected to speak, he will not. He only speaks where he is not required to. “What happened on 9th of March 2020 is very sad for the people of Kano, people of Nigeria and the entire world. You know HRH Sanusi is an international man. We saw what happened on the brazen abuse of power in the dethronement process. This, to us, is very unfair.” But the presidency said it was unfair and disingenuous of opposition politicians to try to link the situation in Kano State to the federal government and the president.

The statement reads: “The president does not have a history of intervening in the affairs of any state in the country, unless the issue at hand is of national consequence. On such matters which impinge on national security, he has a duty of involvement as the law stipulates. “As outlined in the constitution, the appointment or removal of emirs and other traditional leaders is strictly within the jurisdiction of state governments.” The president prayed that the will of Allah will be done at all times, and that the emirate/state and its people continue to experience progress irrespective of who is on the throne, it also said.

Sanusi set to slug it out with Ganduje in court

TrackNews reports that deposed Emir Sanusi is set to sue the Kano State government over his banishment and detention. Head of his legal team, Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, who stated this to TrackNews in Kano yesterday, said they would file the case today. Mahmoud said other parties in the suit include the Inspector General of Police, Director General of the Department, Kano State government and Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. He said, “Despite putting our request for the immediate release of his highness from unlawful detention, it is 24 hours now, but nothing has come from the government side. Therefore, we have decided to file our case before of court today.

Kano govt denies banishing Sanusi

The Attorney-General of Kano State, Ibrahim Muktar, yesterday said the state government did not banish Sanusi II. Muktar, while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, said the state government was clear in its press statement on Monday that Sanusi was deposed but never made any reference to banishment. “If you listened to the Secretary to the State Government when he was addressing the press on the issue of the removal of the emir from office, there was no where he stated that the emir was banished from Kano State. “So, the decision of the government on Monday was that he was removed from office and a new one appointed. The issue of banishment was not part of the decision of the Kano State government,” the attorney-general said. Muktar said security agents decided to whisk Sanusi away from Kano State due to intelligence reports they had. He said it was normal practice for deposed emirs to be moved away to maintain peace in the state, adding that such action was not in contravention of the constitution which guarantees freedom of movement.

Bayero wept as he bade farewell to Bichi people

The newly appointed Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, yesterday wept as he bade farewell to the people of the emirate where he was emir. The emir, while making his remarks shortly after he received his letter of appointment, had to pause awhile to control his emotion. He said the people of Bichi showed him real love, respect and support while he was their emir. “I really appreciate you, the people of Bichi. Today, I am leaving you not because I do not want to stay with you but because this is how Allah has destined it. “As Muslim faithful, we must believe in destiny in all our undertakings. We must believe that whatever happened to us is from Allah the Almighty,” he said. He also appealed to the people of Kano to live in peace with one another and support government and traditional institutions to move the state forward. In his remarks, Governor Ganduje said, “I am so happy today because the people of Kano are happy. I am so delighted for this occasion which to me is the first of its kind since the creation of Kano State. “This is the first time in the history of Kano where two sons of late Emir Ado Bayero, who ruled the state for 53 years were appointed emirs. This is the first time in the history of Kano where two brothers of same mother same father received letters of appointment as emirs,” he said. Shortly after the presentation of letters of appointment to the two emirs, Aminu Ado Bayero was escorted to emir’s palace in Kano by a mammoth crowd, and his brother, Nasiru Ado Bayero was escorted to Bichi.

Sanusi accepts El-Rufai’s appointments

TrackNews reports that Sanusi II has consented to serve as the Vice-Chairman of the board of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) and Chancellor of Kaduna State University (KASU). Governor Nasir el-Rufai on Tuesday appointed Sanusi into the board of KADIPA to serve as vice-chairman, a day after he was dethroned as emir of Kano. The appointment was followed by another to serve as Chancellor of KASU less than 24 hours after the first one was made public.

I doubt Buhari’s involvement, says Abdulsalami

A former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has reacted to the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi as Emir of Kano by the state government, saying he was not sure of President Buhari’s involvement in the removal. Daily Trust recalls that the former Head of State was the chairman of the reconciliation committee set up to intervene and find a solution to the misunderstanding between the deposed emir and Governor Ganduje. Abubakar, while expressing his displeasure during an interview with the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA), lamented that the effort of the committee he led to reconcile Ganduje and Sanusi was wasted.