Former Central Bank Governor and deposed 14th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, may return to power sooner than many expect following Thursday’s abolition of the five controversial Emirates created by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje by the Kano State House of Assembly.
A source who craved anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case confided in The Crest that the incumbent Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf may sign the newly passed bill into law Thursday evening or early Friday morning to pave the way for the return of Muhammadu Sanusi II. Kabir Yusuf is of the Rabiu Kwankwaso-led New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
After a long-drawn battle with the then governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, now national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Sanusi was dethroned in 2020.
Perhaps as a prelude to the possible reinstatement of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, all the five Emirs of the annulled five Emirates are “out of town”.
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, who on Wednesday was in Ijebu-Ode to felicitate with the Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona, on the occasion of his 90th, is yet to return to the palace.
Wkile Bayero’s younger brother and Emir of Bichi, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, is said to be “out of Kano”, the whereabouts of the Emirs of Rano, Karaye and Gaya could not be established, according to Daily Trust.
According to the newspaper, Sanusi is in Lagos and making preparations for rousing return to the throne.
The newspaper quoted a source who said: “Emir Sanusi is currently preparing for his return to the throne. Although he is not in town at the moment, we are expecting his return on Friday,”
It would be recalled that ahead of Sanusi’s disposition, the Ganduje Administration had, in 2019, promulgated the Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) Law and created four additional emirates – Rano, Karaye, Gaya and Bichi from the old ‘united’ Kano Emirate.
But on Thursday, May 23, 2024, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)-controlled Kano House of Assembly repealed the law, paving the way for the abolition of the emirates and revision of the changes introduced through the law by the Ganduje Administration.
According to the newly passed bill, “All offices created in the newly created five Emirates under the repealed principal law, dated 5th December, 2019 are hereby abrogated. All appointment made under the said repealed Principal Law dated 5th December, 2019 are hereby set aside.”
