A 10-man truce committee headed by a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has been constituted to end the faceoff between Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and the Emir of Kano, Mohammad Sanusi ll.
A statement Monday by a member of the committee, Adamu Fika (Wazirin Fika), listed two serving governors– Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, as members of the committee.
Also in the committee are Gen. Muhammadu Wushishi; Abdullahi Ibrahim Dalhatu Tafida; Umaru Mutallab; Ibrahim Gambari and Sharif Saleh.
The statement explained that the committee was working with the full understanding and cooperation of the Federal Government.
It added that initial contact had already been made with Ganduje and Sanusi on the need to embrace peace in the interest of peace and development of the state.
The statement added that the governor and the Emir were implored to direct their supporters and sympathisers to refrain from “making statements declarations, releasing songs, writing articles, and taking other actions inimical to the spirit and process of good governance, order and reconciliation.”
The Kano State House of Assembly had at the peak of perceived disagreement between Ganduje and Sanusi passed a bill for the creation of the new Kano Emirates .
Last May, the governor created four emirate councils — Rano, Gaya, Karaye and Bichi —-and made the Emirs first class monarchs.
Sanusi, who felt it was a deliberate move to whittle down his authority however challenged the process at a Kano High Court.
In November, the court delivered judgment in favour of Emir Sanusi after faulting the process that led to the creation of the Emirates.
But a latest judgment by another Kano High Court held that Ganduje followed due process in creating the four Emirate councils.
Shortly after the state Executive Council approved the Emirate Council Bill 2019, Ganduje appointed Emir Sanusi chairman of the state traditional rulers council for a period of two years.
He said that headship of the council would henceforth be on rotational basis and warned that sanctions awaited any Emir that failed to attend the council’s meetings thrice without convincing reasons.
Last week, Ganduje issued an ultimatum to Emir Sanusi to accept or reject his appointment as the chairman of the council.
However, several attempts to broker peace by prominent Nigerians and elders in the North, one led by Sultan of Sokoto Sa’ad Abubakar II, stakeholders in Kano, as well as Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had failed.