Sanusi Moves On, Mocks Kano Govt Over Dethronement

Following his dethronement, Mallam Lamido Sanusi said it was easy for him to challenge his removal in court as his deposition letter was poorly-written by the Kano State Government.

He also criticised the state government for not giving him fair hearing prior to his dethronement.
However, Sanusi said he was going to move on and did not want to return as Emir, saying he did all he could while he was the Emir of Kano for six years.

In a 45-second video clip that went viral on social media on Saturday, Sanusi said, “I have done what I could in six years, I’m moving on. I don’t want to go back.

“The truth is, if I had wanted to go back, the dethronement letter was so badly written, it was not done professionally. The easiest thing is just to go to court.”

“It’s simple… fair hearing. ’Did you query him? Did you ask him to defend himself? Did you even call him to ask him any question?’ No.

“That’s all but I think we should go on to a new phase in life,” Sanusi added.

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Sanusi, who once headed the Central Bank for five years, became the 14th Emir of Kano in June 2014, following the death of his great uncle, Ado Bayero.

However, the 58-year-old was dethroned last Monday by the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, over “total disrespect for lawful instructions from the office of the state government.”

According to a statement by the Secretary to the Kano State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, the removal of Sanusi, whose grandfather, Muhammadu Sanusi I, was deposed in 1963, was unanimously approved by the state executive council.

Reading the statement, which conveyed the dethronement of Sanusi, the Secretary to the State Government stated that the Emir was dethroned for “total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the state Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination.”

The SSG further alleged that Sanusi breached Part 3 Section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019, adding that if left unchecked, the deposed monarch would “destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate.”

The statement added, “This removal is made after due consultations with the relevant stakeholders and in compliance with Part 3 Section 13 of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and other reasons stated above.

“This removal was reached in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate built over a thousand years.”

About six hours after Sanusi’s deposition, the state government announced a new Emir, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, a son of the 13th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who died in 2014.

The SSG said Aminu Ado Bayero’s appointment as the 15th Emir followed the recommendation received by Ganduje from the kingmakers.

The new Emir is also from the same Fulani dynasty as Sanusi.
Meanwhile, after his dethronement, Sanusi was driven to the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, from where he was taken to Nasarawa State, where he was banished to.

The deposed Emir was first taken to Loko, then Awe, both in Nasarawa State.

However, the former Emir’s lawyers on Friday secured a court order granting him freedom from illegal detention.

Meanwhile, Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, and Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly visited the dethroned Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, in Lagos on Saturday.

El-Rufai had accompanied Sanusi to Abuja Airport on Friday evening, where the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria boarded his flight to Lagos.

El-Rufai said he and Bakare led some other dignitaries to Sanusi’s new home in Lagos after the “Lagos version” of Bakare’s 60th birthday and presentation of his latest book, ‘These Times’.