- Governor Ganduje recently signed signed into law a bill creating four new emirates in Kano state and re-opened an investigation into the finances of the Kano Emirate Council
- These actions by the state governor are alleged to be targeted at the Emir of Kano for the alleged roles he played in the just concluded 2019 elections
- An unconfirmed report alleges that Emir Sanusi worked against Governor Ganduje and the APC in the last elections, a move which allegedly infuriated the Kano state governor
New details have emerged of alleged infractions by the Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II, which led to some drastic actions by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Daily Trust reports.
Recall that last week, Governor Ganduje signed into law a bill creating four new emirates in the state.
Similarly, the state's anti-corruption agency of the government reopened an investigation into the finances of the Kano Emirate Council, the body overseeing the state’s traditional institutions, headed by Emir Sanusi.
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These actions of the governor are alleged to be targeted at the Kano monarch.
Coming shortly after the 2019 general elections, Ganduje’s actions have been reportedly linked with the emir’s alleged display of open partisanship during the polls.
According to Daily Trust, officials close to the state governor disclosed that in the run-up to the governorship election in the state, Emir Sanusi met about five times with the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and Ganduje’s main challenger and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The meetings were alleged to be centered on how to strategise on winning the gubernatorial election, which Governor Ganduje eventually won.
One of the sources reportedly claimed Emir Sanusi also directed district heads in the state not only to vote for the PDP in their respective domains but to ensure that the ruling APC was defeated in the general elections.
“He also summoned his relatives and directed them to work for the PDP and ensure that the incumbent governor did not return for a second term. As if that was not enough, the emir used his connections to mobilise huge funds through friends and business partners and used same in campaigning against the APC during the election,” the official was quoted to have said.
The government source further alleged that after the February 23 governorship election and the subsequent declaration of Kano gubernatorial poll as inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Emir called several personalities, begging them not to allow the rerun election to hold in Kano.
“He told some of them that there was every tendency of Kano witnessing another round of political riot if Abba Yusuf, the PDP candidate was not declared winner of the election,” the source said, adding, “But when it was evident that the rerun must hold, the Emir changed his strategy by moving into the security circle trying to convince personnel to work against the APC.”
The source also alleged that the Kano monarch met with a senior police officer sent to supervise the rerun election and tried to influence him to support the PDP candidate.
Also, another state government official cited by Daily Trust accused Sanusi of working against Ganduje's second term bid, even after the governor had won the rerun election.
The source claimed that Emir Sanusi directed the district heads of the areas where the rerun poll was held to write damaging reports about it, with a view to discrediting it.
“Emir Sanusi directed all the district heads of the areas affected by the rerun election to come up with reports that would indicate that the poll was marred by violence. Some of the district heads complied with his directives, but others refused to do so. And even those that did it later confessed that they were directed by the Emir to do so.
“The Emir did so many things which did not only touch the governor directly but also the entire system of the APC. He also worked against the Presidency directly by inciting the public against the Buhari-led government,” the source was also quoted to have said.
The officials said that these alleged activities by Sanusi got Governor Ganduje very angry. The governor, after assenting to the new emirates bill, quickly went round and issued the new emirs with staff of office. This is even as the state’s Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission invited officials of Sanusi’s palace for questioning over the council’s account.
Another allegedreason for the speed with which the new emirates bill was approved by the state assembly was the fact that the speaker of the Kano state House of Assembly, Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, holds the traditional title of Turakin Rano and the creation of Rano Emirate would automatically make him a kingmaker.
Turaki is reportedly among the kingmakers by the recommendation of the Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) (Amendment) Law 2019.
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Kano state’s commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba, reportedly declined commenting on anything relating to the creation of new emirates or the relationship between the governor and the emir, noting that “these emirates have already been created.”
Sanusi’s chief of staff, Alhaji Munir Sanusi, also declined comment, saying, “I’m not in a position to speak to press on this issue because there are other senior council members.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Kano state high court has, however, issued an order stopping Ganduje from appointing new emirs pending the determination of a suit challenging the action filed before it by two state legislators.
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