"We need to remind the Tinubu administration that Kano State is known for peace and harmony spanning thousands of years and any attempt to destabilise the peace of the Land of Commerce shall be resisted."
The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has blamed the crisis in the Kano emirate on the Bola Tinubu administration.
Mr Abubakar, in a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, said the federal government deployed security forces to assist a claimant to the stool of the Emir of Kano who has been deposed.
"... the former emir could not have made his way into the Nasarawa Palace without the support of the federal government having done so with the support of the army and other security personnel in his company. The deployment of soldiers in extra-constitutional matters such as this undermines the integrity of the Nigerian military," Mr Ibe wrote.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Kano government sacked the five emirs in the state including Aminu Ado Bayero who was the Emir of Kano. The government then reinstated Lamido Sanusi, who was deposed in 2020 as the Emir of Kano.
However, both Mr Sanusi and Mr Ado Bayero currently lay claim to the title.
Read Mr Ibe's full statement below.
The action of the federal government in deploying soldiers in Kano in the tussle over the throne of the ancient city is an upset to the peace and security of the state, and also in breach of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
In performing their constitutional duties of law-making, the Kano State House of Assembly (KSHA) passed the amended Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024 in consonance with the provision of Section 4 of the Constitution 1999 as amended whereas the Governor of Kano State, Kabir Yusuf, subsequently signed into law the said bill. The law therefore repealed the 2019 version which balkanized the ancient Kano Emirate into five.
The foregoing circumstances happened within the confines of the law and in compliance with the powers conferred on the Governor as provided by Section 5(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended; and also in consultation with the Kingmakers of Kano, reappointed Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II) as the 16th Emir of Kano State and accordingly handed him a letter of appointment.
It is surprising that in the early hours of today, exactly at about 5:30 a.m. the former Emir of Kano, His Majesty Aminu Ado Bayero backed by federal might made their way into the Nasarawa Palace of the Kano Emirate while the reappointed Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II was at the Gidan Dabo, which is the main residence of the Emir of Kano.
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In this wise, the former emir could not have made his way into the Nasarawa Palace without the support of the federal government having done so with the support of the army and other security personnel in his company. The deployment of soldiers in extra-constitutional matters such as this undermines the integrity of the Nigerian military.
We need to remind the Tinubu administration that Kano State is known for peace and harmony spanning thousands of years and any attempt to destabilise the peace of the Land of Commerce shall be resisted. Recall that Muhammadu Sanusi II was dethroned on 9th March 2020 and Kano forged on in peace without any fracas.
We wish to state unequivocally that if for any reason, law and order breaks down in Kano State, particularly Kano Municipal, the federal government should be held responsible as the act of providing security cover to the former emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, to come back to Kano is an invitation to anarchy.
Signed:
Paul Ibe
Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar
Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007
Abuja
