The Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday dethroned the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, after the traditional ruler’s five years on the throne.
The Secretary to the state Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, in a statement in Kano on Monday, stated that the removal of Sanusi, whose grandfather, Muhammadu Sanusi I, was deposed in 1963, was unanimously approved by the state executive council.
Before the state government announced Sanusi’s dethronement at 11am on Monday, there were signs that a major decision was in the offing as heavily armed security agents were drafted to the major parts of the city, including the palace of the monarch.
About six hours after Sanusi was deposed, the state government announced Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, a son of the 13th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who died in 2014, as the successor to the dethroned monarch.
The state government as early as 8am had invited journalists to the Government House for what a top officer said was “an important state matter.”
Reading the statement, which conveyed the dethronement of Sanusi, the secretary to the state government stated that the emir was dethroned for “total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the state governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination.”
He further alleged that Sanusi breached part 3 section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019, adding that if left unchecked the deposed monarch would “destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate.
“This removal is made after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders and in compliance with part 3 section 13 of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and other reasons stated above.
“This removal was reached in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate built over thousand years.”
He urged people of the state to be calm, adding that a new Emir of Kano Emirate would soon be appointed.
Ado Bayero’s son succeeds Sanusi
The state governor, through the secretary to the state government, said he had approved the appointment of Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, as the 15th Emir of Kano in the ruling Fulani dynasty.
The SSG, Usman Alhaji, at the press conference, said “I have been directed by His Excellency, Governor Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, following the resolution of the state executive council and recommendation by Kano kingmakers to announce the appointment of Alhaj Aminu Ado Bayero as the new Emir of Kano.
“In my capacity as the secretary to the state government, I have been directed based on Sections 11 Subsection 1 of Kano State Emirate Council law 2019 to announce the appointment of Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the former Emir of Bichi as the 15th Emir of Kano in the ruling Fulani dynasty.”
He said the appointment of the new emir followed the recommendation received by Ganduje from the kingmakers.
Security operatives seal palace after Sanusi’s removal
Shortly after Sanusi was deposed, more policemen led by the state Commissioner of Police, Habu Sani, joined the security agents who had earlier been deployed in the Emir’s palace.
Some members of the public, who already converged on the premises were dispersed by the police.
Some members of the emirate council, who wanted to visit Sanusi after his removal were not allowed to enter the palace.
Apart from the Emir’s palace, security was also beefed up at the Government House, Kano, and some strategic places in the ancient city.
It was observed that visitors to the Government House were being subjected to thorough checks as part measures to prevent all unwanted visitors from gaining access.
There were heavily armed security personnel in places such as Kofar Nassarawa and Kofar Dan’agundi as well as other volatile areas within the metropolis.
Embattled Emir banished to Nasarawa State
Amidst tight security, the dethroned Emir was driven out of the palace in a black Jeep with no registration number at 5:36pm to the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport from where he was taken to Nasarawa State, where he had been banished to.
Coincidentally, the deposed emir’s grandfather Muhammadu Sanusi I, who ascended the throne in 1953 was deposed in 1963 by then Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Sanusi was selected to succeed his granduncle, Ado Bayero, as the Emir of Kano on June 8, 2014
Since his ascension to the throne, Sanusi, who is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has been an advocate of reforms in the largely conservative North.
Besides condemning the Almajiri system, he has been critical of the northern elite. Recently in Kaduna, he warned that the North was destroying itself by not embracing education.
The crisis between him and the Kano State government worsened last year when the state anti-graft agency probed him for corruption.
The state government also created four new emirates out of the Kano Emirate, an action, analysts said was aimed at diminishing Sanusi’s influence.
Kano calm
The entire city remained calm despite the removal of the emir as of the time of filing this report as people were still going about with their business while business premises continued to operate without hindrance.
Some of the major markets in the city also opened, although many traders had closed their shops in anticipation of what had happened.
Many residents said they expected the removal of the Emir due to the recent happenings involving him, the state anti-corruption commission and the state governor over the alleged misappropriation of N3.4bn and of recent the alleged land racketeering amounting to over N2.2bn.
Free-for-all at Kano assembly over Sanusi probe
Earlier on Monday, there was pandemonium at the state House of Assembly over the move by the state government to probe Sanusi.
Trouble began when the Chairman, House Standing Committee on Public Complaints and Petitions, Alhaji Hamza Ibrahim Ci-Dari, raised an observation regarding the two petitions against the deposed emir.
Immediately the chairman raised the issue, he was opposed by some lawmakers, particularly members of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The PDP and the All Progressives Congress members engaged in a free-for-all as they tried to snatch the House mace, the symbol of authority of the House.
But the Sergeant at Arms and security operatives prevented the lawmakers from taking the mace away, before the Speaker, Alhaji Abdulaziz Gafasa, announced the postponement of the session for 30 minutes. There was calm when the House resumed later.
Dethronement: Stop consoling me, we didn’t die, says Sanusi’s daughter
Khadija Sanusi, daughter of the former Emir of Kano, on Monday, asked her followers to stop sending her condolences, following her father’s dethronement.
Moments before Sanusi’s dethronement was made public, Khadija alluded to it by taking to Twitter to quote her father, in response to a tweet that said, “Muhammadu Sanusi, Emir of Kano, once said?”
She replied, “You can suspend me, but you can’t suspend the truth.’ The man that raised me has never been afraid of letting go of power for the sake of integrity.”
The former emir’s daughter later expressed exasperation over the number of condolence messages she had received.
Khadija, in a series of now deleted tweets, said, “Can you people please stop sending me ‘Innallillahi wa Inna ilayhir raji’un’ (from God we came, to God we shall return) and ‘my condolences’? We did not die.
“Explain to me how I’ve been the one consoling my friends. I’m like ‘I’m sorry.’ Allah ne yaso. Insha Allah hakan yaafi alheri. (That’s his God wants it to happen. By God’s grace, it will be for good.) Just expect an invoice because I’m charging for these therapy sessions.” Punch
