Weekly Trust (Kaduna)
24 January 2004
Kaduna — Following the removal from office of a Kano Emirate kingmaker storm is gathering around the emirate as the affected kingmaker vows to contest his removal.
The kingmaker, Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan-Agundi, the Sarki Dawaki Mai Tuta was removed late last year for what the emirate described as absenteeism from office and involvement in politics
When Weekly Trust sought the reaction of Alhaji Aminu, he was said to be out of the country at the time, but a family source had disclosed that the allegations against him were not true.
But a spokesman for the Kano Emirate, Alhaji Gambo Danpass, who is the Dansaran Kano in an exclusive interview with Weekly Trust in Kano reaffirmed the position of the emirate council on the matter. His words: "It is wrong for Dan-Agundi to claim that due process was not followed in sacking him. He was accused of about 84 allegations as a result of which the emirate set up a committee to investigate the matter. The committee had severally summoned Dan-Agundi to appear before it but he refused. The chairman of the committee, Wamban Kano, Alhaji Abbas Sunusi called Dan-Agundi to appear before it but he refused. The chairman of the committee, Wamban Kano, Alhaji Abbas Sunusi even called Dan-Agundi on his cell phone but he ignored the summons."
When Weekly Trust finally caught up with Alhaji Dan Agundi in Abuja, he explained that he had already briefed his lawyers on the matter and that "I will seek for justice that has been denied me by the Kano Emirate with every ounce of my strength. The emir has every right to take disciplinary action against his title-holders but due process and justice, if not mercy must prevail. I was never queried or warned. I was summoned in the night and sacked the next day without being given any opportunity to defend myself. There are personal issues behind this matter, which I shall reveal in court."
But in response to the question on whether Dan-Agundi was sacked because he divorced the emir's daughter, Danpass replied that "To the best of my knowledge, the issue of dismissing Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta was not related to their divorce because (the two) were divorced nine years before he was dismissed."
Meanwhile, according to sources close to Alhaji Dan-Agundi, he is expected to present his case before the court next week.
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