I doubt Buhari’s involvement in Sanusi’s dethronement, says Abdulsalami

A former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has reacted to the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi as Emir of Kano by the state government, saying he was not sure of President Buhari’s involvement in the removal.

Daily Trust recalls that the former Head of State was the chairman of the reconciliation committee set up to intervene and find a solution to the misunderstanding between the deposed emir and Governor Ganduje.

Abubakar, while expressing his displeasure during an interview with the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA), lamented that the effort of the committee he led to reconcile Ganduje and Sanusi was wasted.

In a related development, the presidency said yesterday that Buhari has no hand whatsoever in the dethronement of Sanusi II as Emir of Kano.

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, in a statement titled “Leave President Buhari out of the Kano Emirate Issue”, said such insinuations were untrue, malicious and politically motivated.

Former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, while speaking on a BBC Hausa programme, alleged that it was President Buhari that asked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to remove Sanusi.

READ: Sanusi’s fall shows limits for Nigerian traditional rulers

Kwankwaso said, “Even the Kano government has stated that it is an order. The president is involving himself in Kano affairs; but where he is expected to speak, he will not. He only speaks where he is not required to.

“What happened on 9th of March 2020 is very sad for the people of Kano, people of Nigeria and the entire world. You know HRH Sanusi is an international man. We saw what happened on the brazen abuse of power in the dethronement process. This, to us, is very unfair.”

But the presidency said it was unfair and disingenuous of opposition politicians to try to link the situation in Kano State to the federal government and the president.

The statement reads: “The president does not have a history of intervening in the affairs of any state in the country, unless the issue at hand is of national consequence. On such matters which impinge on national security, he has a duty of involvement as the law stipulates.

“As outlined in the constitution, the appointment or removal of emirs and other traditional leaders is strictly within the jurisdiction of state governments.”

The president prayed 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, it also said.