The reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi as the Emir of Kano on Thursday, as announced by Abba Yusuf, governor of the state, followed a series of activities at the House of Assembly.
The Kano State House of Assembly had earlier on Thursday dissolved all four newly created emirate councils in the state.
The Assembly had considered the state’s Emirate Council Amendment Bill, repealing the law that established additional four Emirates in 2019.
According to the new Act, Paragraph 5 now empowers Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to preside over, by all necessary measures, the restoration of the status of the Kano Emirate System to its positions prior to the enactment of the repealed Principal Law dated December 5, 2019, under the immediate past administration of former Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje.
The Legislative Act, tagged ‘Kano State Emirate Council (repeal) Bill 2024,’ provides for the repeal of the former Law enacted in 2019, enacted by the same assembly on which Aminu Ado Bayero, was coronated as the 15th emir of Kano.
The layman interpretation of Paragraph 5 of the amended Bill was that returning to former status of the Kano emirate system implies that the former structure and appointment arrangement of the council before 2019, should be returned to.
By implication, it thus, means that the structure and appointment arrangement which have Muhammadu Sanusi 11 as the 14th Fulani Emir (Sarkin) of Kano and other appointments, such as the ones, that recognised Aminu Ado Bayero, as Galadima, a principal title appointee in the old Kano emirate council, are what the new Act is suggesting.
Paragraph 3 of the Act reads, “Kano State Emirates Council Law, 2019 (1441 A.H) dated December 5, 2019 (1441 A.H), Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) (Amendment) Law, 2019 (1440 A.H) dated May 8, 2019 and Kano State Emirate Council (Amendment) Law, 2020 (1442 A.H) dated December 5, 2019 (1441 A.H) are hereby repealed.
“All traditional office holders and title holders elevated or appointed to office created under the repealed Principal Law, dated December 5, 2019, shall revert to their position where such positions previously existed under recognised custom and traditions prior to the enactment of the repealed Principal Law, dated December 5, 2019.
“The governor shall take all necessary measures to restore the status of the Kano Emirate System to its positions prior to the enactment of the repealed principal law dated December 5, 2019.
“The Commissioner responsible for Local Government shall oversee all transitional arrangements, including how best to deal with the assets and liabilities of the abolished emirates and the new structure created under the repealed Principal Law dated December 5, 2019,” the Assembly stated.
Sanusi’s travails
Muhammad Sanusi 11, one of Nigeria’s most influential Muslim traditional leaders, was removed from office on March 9, 2020.
Born into the Fulani royal family, Lamido Sanusi became the 14th Emir of Kano in 2014 after the death of Ado Bayero.
He had described the post, which carries enormous weight among Nigeria’s northern Muslims, as a life-long ambition.
According to the then state government headed by Adullahi Ganduje, Sanusi was deposed for showing insubordination to the authorities of Kano State.
Sanusi, a former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, had a frosty relationship with the then Kano Governor, Ganduje, since 2017, until he was deposed in 2020.
But many of his supporters believe he was sacked for opposing Ganduje’s re-election bid in 2019.
In the 2019 gubernatorial election in Kano State, there was no clear winner in the first round of voting, but Ganduje then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the run-off election against Abba Yusuf, the incumbent governor, who was candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in controversial circumstances.
Upon assumption of office, Ganduje felt it was time to “punish” Sanusi for supporting opposition candidate against him.
Shortly after, the Kano government announced Aminu Ado Bayero, the son of Sanusi’s predecessor, who ruled Kano for more than half a century until his death in 2014, as the new emir.
The deposed Sanusi was immediately removed from the palace in the city of Kano by security forces and he lived in exile in Lagos State since then.
Why was Sanusi sacked? There are different permutations why Sanusi was deposed by the Ganduje administration. But on several occasions, Sanusi had spoken out about the worsening state of insecurity in Northern Nigeria and the failure of governance.
For many, it was a departure from the past, when leaders of traditional institutions in the region hardly spoke publicly about leadership failure.
Sanusi was particularly concerned about the opulent lifestyle of political leaders in Northern Nigeria, despite the high poverty rate among the people of the region.
But his constant criticism of government often puts him at loggerheads with leading politicians within Northern Nigeria.
Although, the Kano government had said he was removed in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate, many Nigerians did not believe the government.
Especially after the Kano government accused him of disrespect for institution and the governor’s office.
For a long time, due to poor relationship with the Ganduje administration, Sanusi did not attend state functions or meetings in Kano, which further complicated his relationship with the state government.
He was accused of selling property and mismanaging funds but he secured a court order stopping the probe.
The emir’s refusal to appear before a panel investigating him over allegations of corruption also did not go down well with the then government.
Consequently, to further weaken Sanusi’s powers, the Ganduje administration split the Kano Emirates into five and appointed four more emirs.
Announcement of the return
“With the full support of the kingmakers, I have approved the reappointment of Malam Sanusi Lamido,” Abba said during the announcement on Thursday.
With the governor’s proclamation, Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, who succeeded Sanusi, has been removed.
Governor Yusuf has also given the sacked emirs 48 hours to leave their palaces.
Addressing a media briefing after signing the bill into law, the governor directed the sacked monarchs to vacate official residences and palaces and hand them over to the Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs within two days.
Emir Ado Bayero was said to be currently out of town after he paid a courtesy call on Oba Sikiru Adetona, Awujale of Ijebuland, on Wednesday.
