The Kano State government has denied the reports that the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has been banished from the state.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in the state, Ibrahim Muktar, stated this during his appearance on Channels Television on Wednesday.

He said, “You see, If you listen to the Secretary to the State Government when he was addressing the press on the issue of the removal of the emir from office, there was nowhere he said the emir was even banished from Kano State.

“So, the decision of the government was (that) the emir … as of Monday was removed from office and a new emir was appointed. The issue of banishment was not part of the decision of the Kano State Government.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, the lawyers to the deposed emir said they have been unable to reach their client.

They also threatened to take legal action against the state government if they fail to release Sanusi within 24 hours.

In his reaction, Muktar explained that banished deposed traditional rulers had been existing since the colonial era.

He noted specifically that monarchs in the northern part of the country who were removed were taken out of their jurisdiction in order not to have two rulers in the same territory.

According to the commissioner, this has happened to many emirs such as the Emir of Gwandu who was removed and banished to Kaduna State.

He insisted that that has been the practice in the region in order to maintain peace and security in affected areas.

Muktar, however, said, “We have been hearing from the media that he has been banished but what I know is that he was taken out of Kano State.

“But banishment was not part of the decision of Kano State government … There is no such decision to the best of my knowledge.”

–ChannelsTv

Former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwas has said Governor Abdullahi Ganduje removed Muhammadu Sanusi 11 as Emir of Kano on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Kwankwaso, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, claimed on the BBC Hausa Service on Wednesday morning that the “the governor of Kano himself have been saying that he has been given order to remove Sanusi,” even as he affirmed that the President has been intervening in the affairs of Kano State.

“President Buhari is getting involved in the affairs of Kano state,” Kwankwaso said.

The Presidency has not spoken on the sack of Sanusi since the former Emir of Kano was deposed by the Kano State Government on Monday.

But Buhari, had during a visit of a delegation from Kano State to the Aso Rock presidential villa some weeks ago said he will not interfere in the rift between the Emir and the his State Government.

The President had at that occasion, noted that he will be overstepping his bounds, constitutionally, if he get involved in the dispute between the monarch and Ganduje.

The BBC noted that the former Kano Governor did not provide any evidence to back his claim of the involvement of the President in the removal of the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria as Emir.

Kwankwaso, under whose tenure Sanusi was installed as the Emir in 2014, also claimed in the BBC interview that the people of Kano were saddened the deposition of the Emir.

He described the deposed monarch as a “honourable king and a man of the world.”

The former Governor also denied claims by the Kano State Government that he issued two letters of warning to Sanusi while he was in office.

“I have never given the Emir any warning letter or anything like that.”

He also denied claim that his supporters under the Kwankwasiyya movement, were responsible for stirring up tensions between Sanusi and Governor Ganduje.

According to Kwankwaso, his supporters were only after ‘the truth’, and were angry with Ganduje because of the outcome of the 2019 Kano gubernatorial election, which according to him was rigged against his party and in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Source

Governors of Southeast under the aegis of South East Governors’ Forum have reacted to the proposed Federal government loan of N22.7bn which has drawn some controversy recently.

The loan has drawn condemnation from the South easterners because of their exclusion from list of zones to benefit from the loan.

In a statement signed by the five governors of the region, the Forum noted that the loan have not been approved by the National Assembly.

They said: ‘South East Governors’ Forum met on Saturday 7th March, 2020, following a lot of calls and condemnations from our people questioning why South East should be excluded from the proposed Federal Government’s Loan of Twenty-Two Billion, Seven Hundred Thousand US Dollars ($22.7 Billion), whereas the other 5 zones of the country have visible budget”.

“Our people gave the impression that the Senate had already approved the sum despite objections raised by the South East Senators”..

The Governors noted that the House of Representatives has not considered the loan.

They said they have reached out to Mr. President, the Senate President and Mr. Speaker and gotten assured responses that they will address the issues within the context of the loan.

“We therefore plead with our people to be calm and engage us constructively as we believe that Mr. President has never said no to any of the requests of the South East Governors”.

“The South East Governors believe that we can deploy dialogue, negotiation and good understanding to right any perceived injustice, rather than engage the Federal Government in a battle of which no body is expected to win the boss”

“We have written to Mr. President and the leadership of the National Assembly on this matter and we believe that the inclusion of the South East Rail line corridors, development of our Coal Plant in Enugu and development of limestone deposits in the South East should make the list with the loan”

‘We must however continue to thank our dear President for his unstoppable kind attention on the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge, renovation/expansion of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Reconstruction of Portharcourt/Enugu two-lane expressway, and other projects in the South East by the Federal Government’.

‘We pledge our loyalty and support to Mr. President in the face of this challenging moment of our National history as we keep faith in God Almighty”, the said.