Presidency reveals real reasons Sanusi was dethroned

The Presidency has revealed real reasons the deposed emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was ousted, stating the various moves made by President Muhammadu Buhari to save him.

A top Presidency source disclosed in Abuja on Saturday that Buhari’s intervention led to the setting up of the different reconciliation committees whose efforts came to naught.

The Presidency blamed the intransigence of both sides of the conflict for the way it turned out.

The revelations came after the Presidency had previously denied that Buhari had anything to do with the dethronement of Sanusi.

According to the Presidency source, contrary to allegations of collusion to remove Sanusi from office, the Presidency had intervened at many stages of the conflict in the last two years to avoid escalation, “but the efforts collapsed because of the intransigence of the two sides to shift ground.”

The source informed State House correspondents that Ganduje had made up his mind to remove Sunusi as far back as 2017, saying: “the governor informed President Buhari of this decision.

“He, however, asked for advice and guidance. Straightaway, President Buhari said it was inappropriate and requested that the plan be shelved. This meeting was followed with a written letter to the governor on November 17, 2017 in which the president’s advice was clearly stated.

“The president directed his Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari, to follow up for a peaceful resolution of the crisis between the two. This led to the setting up a committee made up of five state governors led by that of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. They did their best. Calm returned, but occasional flares continued and were aggravated by the tense situations under which the governor emerged for a second term in 2019.

“In the course of that period, Governor Fayemi, his Jigawa State counterpart, Abubakar Badaru; and to some extent, the Inspector General of Police made several expeditions to Kano to prevail on the governor not to remove the emir in those tense moments in the interest of peace and security.

“The main grouse of the administration was that the emir had failed to stay above the fray of partisan politics, especially as it related to the governor’s re-election.

“In reaction to the various suggestions by senior citizens, including Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Wushishi and Abdulsalami Abubakar, among others, the CoS sought for permission and gave the green light for the commencement of work by the Abdulsalami Abubakar committee.

“The committee members sat down with the president at the Villa to discuss their mission. At this meeting, the president outlined the efforts he put into the resolution of the conflict in Kano and said he had had enough.

“He gave assurances of support and put at their disposal, the use of the presidential air craft and wished them best of luck. But he did make it clear that if the situation warranted it, we would not hesitate to clamp an emergency rule on the state.

“Governor Ganduje gave conditions for peace, including the withdrawal of court cases by Emir Sanusi against the state government. Sanusi allegedly accepted to withdraw some of the cases, but stood his ground on the others, including his refusal to withdraw a case instituted by Bashir Tofa and his group who the state government alleged to be Sanusi’s proxies in the case.

“The governor insisted that the newly-created emirates ought to be kept, but acceded to the emir that four of the five kingmakers whose districts were excised from Kano be reinstated. The emir agreed not to appeal the decision to uphold the emirates by the courts.

“It was clear all this while that the inability to meet some of the conditions for peace by both complicated the situation. For example, the former emir had wanted the Kano State Anti-corruption Commission to stop its case against him completely. He stood firmly that the case he instituted against the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) would not be withdrawn, because he needed to pursue it to clear his name, a demand that Governor Ganduje rejected.”

Despite these frustrations, according to the source, the president didn’t give up on the efforts for peace. The Presidency official said when the CoS led a delegation to condole the former emir over the death of Ambassador Sunusi, the late Dan Iyan Kano, and the former emir’s uncle, Kyari met separately with Ganduje and Sanusi in a renewed effort to reconcile the two.

According to the source, the Abubakar-led committee report didn’t give any “glimmer of hope” for ending the crisis.

He added that “a mediator’s success depends largely on the cooperation of the parties involved.”

The source noted that having gone to this extent for peace, it was uncharitable and baseless to accuse President Buhari of ordering Ganduje to depose Sanusi.

“The president holds Sanusi in the highest esteem and has nothing personal against him and, therefore, he couldn’t have told Ganduje to depose him.

“The allegations that ‘Abuja,’ referring indirectly to President Buhari, is complicit in the emir’s alleged forceful removal from the palace and exile to Nasarawa are equally ‘nonsensical,’” he said.

According to the Presidency, “chieftaincy law in Northern Nigeria, going back to 1919, makes for the deposition and confinement of emirs and chiefs. Sarki Alu of Kano was removed by the colonial administration using this law and he was walked to Lokoja on foot to start a life of exile.

“State governments have used that law to full effect dealing with Sultan Dasuki in Sokoto who was removed and kept in Zing, Taraba State. Emir Jokolo of Gwandu, Kebbi State, had been kept away from the state for over two decades. Kano State did not need President Buhari’s authorisation for anyone to remove and exile emirs and chiefs.”

Recall that the Presidency, in a statement last week, maintained that it “has no involvement whatsoever in the dethronement of Sanusi from the position of Emir of Kano. All such insinuations are untrue, malicious and politically motivated.” (Sunday Tribune)