…Signs new Emirates Council law
Kano State governor, Abba Kabir-Yusuf, yesterday re-appointed former governor of the the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),? Muhammad Sunusi II, as the new Emir of Kano.
This followed the passing of the Kano Emirate Councils Law (Repeal Bill) 2024, which abrogated the establishment of the five new Emirates earlier operated in the State.
The Governor, who announced the reappointment shortly after signing the Repeal Bill into law at the Government House, Kano, said the Kano State Emirate law 2019 that divided the over 1,000 years Kano Emirate into five has been repealed.
?According to him, the reinstatement was a fulfilment of a campaign promise. ?
?Yusuf gave the former Emirs and other officials who operated under the defunct law to vacate their official residences and palaces within the next 48 hours. ?He also directed them to hand over all Government properties in their possession to the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, who is also the Deputy Governor of the State.
?Speaking shortly after signing the law, Governor Yusuf described the event as historic, and thanked the state of Assembly for performing their Constitutional duties.
Sanusi’s re-instatement is consequent upon the dethronement of Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, the current Emir, and four other Emirs of the now dissolved controversial Emirates created in 2019 by the former governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Ahead of his deposition, the Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) Law was promulgated by the Ganduje administration in 2019, and four additional emirates were created – Rano, ?araye, Gaya and Bichi.
With the passage of the Bill into law, the five Emirs in Kano have been dethroned and all offices created under the repealed law have been dissolved, and District Heads appointed or elevated under the previous legislation are to revert to their former positions.
The Bill, titled: “The Kano State Emirates Council (Amendment No. 2) Law, 2024“, was sponsored by the Majority Leader and representative of the Dala constituency, Lawan Hussaini Che?iyar ‘Yan Gurasa.
The original law, enacted under former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on December 5, 2019, was amended twice: first on October 14, 2020, and again on April 11, 2023. Section 3(1) of the law had established the five distinct emirates, distributing jurisdiction over the 44 local government areas in the State.
Meanwhile, Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, who succeeded Sanusi, is said to be currently out of town. Bayero had paid a courtesy call on the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, on Wednesday.
In 2019, then Emir Sunusi II ran into troubled water following his incessant vocal criticism of the former Governor Ganduje’s administration. His strained relationship with Ganduje led to the restructuring of the Kano Emirate, a move seen as a political ploy to weaken the influence Sunusi II. The creation of the new emirates split the authority of the old Kano Emirate Council, undermining its power and influence.
In a related development, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has commended the Kano State government for reinstating His Royal Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II as the 14th Emir of Kano. This is even as he congratulated the Emir on his reinstatement, describing his removal as ‘unjust’.
Governor Fubara said that he received the news of the re-instatement of the former CBN governor with great happiness.
He noted that Sanusi’s re-instatement by the Kano State Government at this time shows that Sunusi II’s dethronement on March 9, 2020 was against the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kano State. According to him, the act was “an unjust act to the millions of people who believed in his reign while on the revered throne”.
The Governor commended the Kano State Government for listening to the clamour of the people, and acting to correct the wrongs of the past, and urged the people to give the Sarki of the ancient city of Kano the maximum support to succeed.
He also urged the spiritual leader of the Tijjanniyah Sufi order of Nigeria to lead the over 50 million adherents of the Sufi order in Nigeria with love, wisdom and courage while bringing lasting peace, justice, equity and fairness to all in the city of Kano.
