The crisis between Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi ll has finally been resolved following a reconciliatory meeting between the two in Abuja. This was contained in a statement by Abba Anwar, the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Ganduje and made available to reporters in Kano on Saturday. According to Anwar, the reconciliatory meeting was initiated by the Kano born business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi. He said after the meeting, the duo exchanged pleasantries with each other on Friday.
It was relief across the nation when news broke late Friday that Ekiti Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi and foremost business mogul and Africa’s richest man, Kano-born Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had finally succeeded to convince Ganduje to stand down the move to depose the emir. The news came after weeks of rising tension that had reached fever pitch on the back of plans by the state governor to remove Sanusi from his exalted throne.
Sources close to Dangote told Huhuonline.com that although the reconciliation meeting was largely successful to the extent that Ganduje was prevailed upon to shelve his planned removal of the emir, there was no consensus on the creation of four new emirates out of Kano division, since the matter was already in court and therefore subjudice. Huhuonline.com also gathered that unknown to the public; there was a strong back channel effort by other APC governors who brought intense pressure to bear on Fayemi, being one of the closest persons to Ganduje, to wade into the crisis. Fayemi was the only APC governor to support Ganduje during his rerun poll, when all indicators had predicted he would lose.
According to sources close to the Ekiti Governor, Ganduje had spurned all previous entreaties from his northern colleagues who had had reached out and tried to get him reconsider his decision to depose Sanusi. Fayemi was their last resort and they eventually pressured him to intervene and save the emirate from the looming demystification and the possibility of violence that might spread across a region already recoiling from insecurity and the Boko Haram insurgency.
Sources close to the Ekiti governor said Fayemi too had been making underground moves, meeting with stakeholders before Dangote called to tell him that as the one person who has Ganduje’s ears, it was incumbent on him to broker a truce between the governor and the emir. Fayemi then called Ganduje but when Ganduje insisted on dethroning the emir, Fayemi then relayed to Ganduje that he was acting at the behest of Dangote. Sources told Huhuonline.com that Ganduje questioned the motives behind Dangote’s olive branch but Fayemi told him Dangote considers Ganduje ending his war of attrition and planned removal of Sanusi as a “favor” he was asking from the Kano governor. “Men like Dangote don’t ask for favors lightly and usually don’t take “No” for an answer,” Fayemi was quoted as telling Ganduje.
According to sources, Fayemi also explained to Ganduje that no wise politician in Nigeria can afford to refuse Dangote a “favor” because in reality, a request from Dangote is actually a de facto order and failure to grant such a request is considered an act of aggression which would amount to political suicide on the part of Ganduje, whose re-election victory is being challenged by the PDP in court. The possibility of the election tribunal overturning his victory was real and Ganduje immediately saw the threat and knew he had to back down, especially after Fayemi reminded him that Dangote has Buhari’s ear and it was the president who personally ordered his release after he was arrested following a sting operation wherein he Ganduje was caught on camera stuffing a bribe of dollar bills paid to him by a contractor inside his gandura. The EFCC can always revive that bribery case.
Realizing that the cost of removing Sanusi was too high a price to pay; and the fact that the ensuing demystification of the Kano emirate has no redeeming political value, besides the actualization of a personal vendetta, Ganduje yielded to their pressure and agreed to bury the hatchet, thus ending weeks of bitter feud between Sanusi and the governor over the emir’s alleged unbridled interference in the politics of Kano state to the extent that it almost cost Ganduje his re-election.
One source privy to the meeting said Ganduje’s people told Sanusi to his face that any further attempt to meddle into Kano politics would incur the wrath of the government, with undesirable consequences. According to the source, the Kano governor presented incontrovertible evidence on Sanusi’s alleged opposition to his re-election, including tape and notes from some of the meetings, where he directly campaigned against Ganduje. The source said Sanusi was also told to tread with circumspection, tact and sagacity because the responsibility of protecting the emirate as a traditional institution rested solely on his soldiers. Sanusi did not respond to the governor’s allegations
Aliko who had maintained a studied silence as Ganduje vented his anger and frustrations then stood up and admonished the two Kano gladiators to shake hands and congratulated each other, saying they were not there to apportion blame; rather they came to help restore peace and fraternity between the emirate council and the governor’s office. Although the source reiterated that Fayemi and Dangote could not address the elephant in the room, which was the contentious creation of four new emirs within the Kano division of the emirate, as the matter was already in court, there seem to have been a tacit understanding that the governor will not challenge any decision by the court that had already nullified and ordered a stay of execution of the decision creating the four new emirates.
This development was also confirmed by the state government in a statement signed by the chief press secretary to the Governor, Abba Anwar, which stated that, “The two leaders met, they congratulated each other for the successful completion of the Month of Ramadhan Fast and the Sallah festive period.
“Both leaders spoke jointly to all Muslims and urged them to continue with the good teachings and spirit of the fasting period of the Month of Ramadhan.” Sanusi seized the opportunity to formally congratulate Ganduje for his second term victory and wished the governor a successful tenure in office till 2023. “For healthier relationship between the two institutions of government and the Kano Emirate, dialogue continues,” the statement added.
Similarly, the Emirate Council, on Saturday, replied the query from the state government, which accused the Emir of financial misappropriation of N3.4bn and exonerated Sanusi from any such malfeasance, saying the Emir is not the accounting officer of the council. Sanusi, in his reply contained in a letter by Abba Yusuf, Acting Secretary of Kano Emirate Council, dated June 7 stated: “I am directed to refer to your letter NO. SSG/OFF/03/V.I/ dated June 6th, 2019 to which was attached a copy of the report of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, containing some allegations of financial misappropriation of the sum of N3.4 Billion by the Kano Emirate Council.
Yusuf also said at the time Sanusi was installed as the emir in 2014, the Emirate Council had only N1, 89 billion, an amount far lesser than the N3.4 billion Kano anti-graft agency said was siphoned between 2014 and 2017. “You may wish to note that at the time his highness Muhammadu Sanusi was appointed Sarkin Kano, the exact amount in the account of the Kano emirate council is N1.893,378,927.38,” Yusuf said. “It is also important to note that Emir Sanusi is not the accounting officer of the emirate council but the secretary of the council”. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to the various allegations contained in the report and accordingly give our responses as per the attached.”
Kano residents have commended the reconciliation of Gov. Ganduje with the Emir, saying it was in the best interest of peace in the state and the nation.
