26th May, 2024
There has been a series of drama in the Kano Emirates since the controversial reinstatement of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II and dethronement of Emir Aminu Ado Bayero by Gov. Abba Yusuf on Friday 24 May.
Tension has been rife in Kano State since Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf signed the Kano State Emirates Council (Amendment Number 2) Bill 2024 on Thursday and reinstated Sanusi.
According to Daily Trust on Sunday, the state government had planned for Sanusi to move to the Gidan Rumfa Palace on Saturday, but upon getting wind of Bayero’s arrival in the city in the wee hours of yesterday, the process was hastened, and Sanusi was escorted to the palace before daybreak.
The development that allegedly compelled Bayero to move into the mini palace in Nassarawa.
Sanusi was said to have arrived at the palace in the company of the governor, the deputy governor, the speaker of the State Assembly and other top government functionaries at about 1:00 am.
On the other hand, Bayero, who had visited the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona in Ogun State before his dethronement, was received in Kano by a crowd in the early hours of Saturday.
He moved to the mini palace in Nassarawa with a security cover from officers of the military, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), fueling speculations that he enjoyed the federal government’s backing.
The news site also reports that a top federal government official had facilitated the issuance of an injunction granted by Justice A. M. Liman of the Federal High Court in Kano, which restrained the state government from implementing the new emirate law under which Sanusi was reinstated as the Emir of Kano.
There was said to be a drama on Saturday in Gidan Dabo and in Gidan Nassarawa as people loyal to the two Emirs pay homage to them separately.
The deputy governor of Kano, Aminu Abdusalam Gwarzo, was said to have alleged that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, arranged two jets to fly Ado Bayero into Kano.
The allegation was, however, denied by the spokesperson of the Office of the NSA, Zakari Mijinyawa.
“Political actors should desist from misinforming the public as law enforcement officials in the state strive to maintain peace and order,” Mijinyawa is quoted by Daily Trust.
Ribadu’s lawyer, Sanusi Musa, SAN, also asked the deputy governor to retract the allegation.
“You have, without any justification, ridiculed the exalted office of the National Security Adviser, which our client occupies by portraying it as a ready tool to be used by politicians to achieve political goals. You have also ridiculed the personality of our client who has built a reputation as a principled and honest citizen in both his public and private life,” Musa wrote the deputy governor.
Meanwhile, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Usaini Mohammed Gumel, yesterday ignored Governor Yusuf’s order for Bayero’s arrest and said the police would enforce the court order stopping Sanusi’s reinstatement.