Despite circumstantial evidence to the contrary, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday absolved himself of complicity in the deposition of former Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II by the Kano State government. Buhari said he “has no involvement whatsoever in the dethronement of HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II from the position of Emir of Kano,” stressing: “All such insinuations are untrue, malicious and politically motivated.”
The president’s reaction came in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu. “As outlined in the Constitution, the appointment or removal of emirs and other traditional leaders is strictly within the jurisdiction of state governments. It is unfair and disingenuous of opposition politicians to try to link the situation in Kano State to the federal government and the Nigerian President,” Buhari said in the statement.
The statement said the president never had a history of intervening in the affairs of any state unless such issues are of national importance. According to the statement, Buhari will only dabble into any brewing issue in a state when such a matter borders on national security because he has a responsibility to comply with provisions of the law in that regard.
Keen observers claim the president’s body language when Governor Abdullahi Ganduje visited him alongside the Emir of Bichi, at Aso Villa, and other statements credited to the president, explaining why he did not intervene in the crisis, clearly demonstrates to every discerning mind that despite the conflicting signals from the presidency, Buhari gave Ganduje the green light to dethrone the emir.
One such observer; former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, condemned the deposition, saying it was unconstitutional. He also alleged that Buhari was aware of the decision to remove the former emir but remained silent. Kwankwaso, who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service monitored in Kaduna, said: “First of all, it was a very sad day in Kano, Nigeria and the world because His Highness Emir Sanusi is a global citizen. From what we’ve seen and from what we’ve heard, no responsible government will take that kind of decision taken by the Kano State government.
“But importantly, Section 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic states that even if you despise a person, you should allow him to choose where to stay. Considering remarks made by those close to Mr. President that he does not interfere in misunderstandings, that he keeps mute whenever there are such conflicts…we, especially in Kano, look at this attitude of Mr. President differently. Where he was supposed to intervene, he never did and where he was not supposed to intervene, you find him intervening. Here, government officials are saying that they were instructed to depose Emir Sanusi.”
But the statement insisted that issues bordering on the appointments and removal of traditional rulers are within the purview of states and hence, linking the president with what happened in Kano is unfair.
“Although a retired General and former Military Head of State, President Buhari clearly understands that under the current democratic dispensation, the government at the centre cannot read instructions or twist the arms of all or any of the 36 state governments making up the federation. They all have their powers specified under the Constitution,” Shehu said.
The presidential spokesman added that Buhari commended the people of Kano State for remaining calm since the dethronement of Sanusi. He also prayed that God’s will be done at all times in both the emirate and the state. “President Buhari commends the people of Kano for keeping calm in the past few days of the dethronement announcement. He prays that the will of Allah will be done at all times, and that the emirate/state and its people continue to experience progress irrespective of who is on the throne,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile, human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has called on President Buhari to order the release of Sanusi. In a statement issued yesterday, the senior lawyer noted that following the dethronement of the former emir, he was flown to Lafia, Nasarawa State by a combined team of the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) on the orders of the Kano State Government.
Falana also noted that based on what he described as the illegality of the banishment and detention of Sanusi in Nasarawa State, the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has “attempted to wash off his hands like Pontius Pilate.” Falana commended the members of the Nasarawa State Council of Traditional Rulers for protesting the degrading and humiliating treatment meted out to Sanusi in his detention centre at Loko. “We are not unaware that the Presidency has distanced itself from the serial infringements of the fundamental rights of Sanusi,” he said.
He, however, insisted that the Presidency must go beyond distancing itself from such violations and order his release without further delay. “With the denial of the Kano State Government in the banishment and detention of Sanusi in Nasarawa State, President Buhari should order his release without any further delay,” he added.
Also, a former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), revealed that the efforts to reconcile Governor Ganduje and the former Emir of Kano, did not yield the desired result. In 2019, Abdulsalami was appointed as chairman of the reconciliation committee set up to intervene in the crisis between Sanusi and Ganduje.
Speaking in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) Hausa on the development, Abdulsalami said: “Well, I can say so in view of the latest development. In my view, all the committee’s efforts are wasted.” He said after the committee submitted its report to the President, he “expressed willingness” to intervene. “I can’t really say whether Buhari has a hand in the matter because I am currently not in Nigeria. But before I left the country, we submitted our report to him, and he expressed willingness to intervene in the matter in order to have amicable resolution, despite being a constitutional matter. I really don’t know if he had intervened,” he said.
