Kano State
governor, Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso on had Wednesday warned President Goodluck
Jonathan to keep his distance from the ‘already settled issue’ of the emergence
of former Central Bank Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 57th Emir
of Kano. Daily Times reports
According to
the Governor “President Jonathan does not know where his powers start and where
they end; if not, he would not have induced the kind of crisis he and his
party, the PDP precipitated by announcing the appointment of an Emir for Kano.
“The issue
of the Emirship of Kano is already settled and we won’t go back to that; but
the president should keep his eyes off Kano because he lacks powers to exercise
in this regard,” Governor Kwankwaso told newsmen at the Kano Governor’s Lodge
in Abuja.
Sanusi’s
emergence as the successor to the late Emir, Alhaji Ado Bayero, had elicited
pockets of violent reactions from a section of the ancient city, raising
concerns that an unpopular choice may have been made after all.
But
defending the choice of the former banker, Governor Kwankwaso said Sanusi had
what it took to be monarch of the city of Kano.
“I can tell
you that Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has what it takes to be our Emir; he is
well educated in western education as well as in Islamic education. He is a man
who has the requisite knowledge of our culture and tradition and even the
needed wisdom to pilot the affairs of the emirate.
“He is
well-connected to the outside world and this is where we think a lot of good
things could be derived from his vast wealth of experience of the wider world”,
he explained.
Kwankwaso,
who recalled that he was in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital for a
retreat of the Progressive Governors’ Forum when the demise of Alhaji Bayero
was communicated to him, dismissed any political consideration trailing the
appointment of Sanusi.
“I was in
Rivers state attending the retreat of the Progressive Governors’ Forum when the
news was broken to me so I had to rush back home and immediately conferred with
the kingmakers, four of them.
“You should
also remember that this is a peculiar situation because out of the four
kingmakers, only one participated in the choice of the late Ado Bayero so we
needed to consult widely and I asked them to go and return at a later time
after getting briefing from them.
“But
surprisingly, even before the kingmakers got back to me, television stations
and radio houses induced by the PDP had started to make false announcement that
someone has been chosen as a new emir. It took the cooperation of the
commissioner of police to stop the nonsense,” he said. Continue
The
governor, who disclosed that the kingmakers presented to him three names with
Sanusi’s name as number one on the list, however emphasised that it was within
his powers as governor of the state to ignore the list and go for someone
outside what the kingmakers submit to him.
“As
governor, the powers lie on me to either reject the list or accept; it does not
mean that I must pick from the list, but in this case, Sanusi’s name was number
one on the list and coupled with the fact that he is eminently qualified for
the emirship, I had no choice than to pick him.
“So for
those who do not like the choice of Sanusi, I think they are enemies of Kano,
they are enemies of Kwankwaso and enemies of the people and that was why they
did all kinds of things to induce crisis in the city but we are ready for
them,” the governor said.
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