Tension as Ganduje queries Sanusi, restricts emir to palace

The standoff between Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II is rising to a disturbing crescendo. 

The governor, yesterday, queried the traditional ruler and gave him 24 hours to respond to allegations of misappropriation. The latest action followed the June 5, 2019 restriction of Sanusi’s sallah activities to the palace.

Ganduje’s restriction order brought to a sudden halt the 105-year-old Hauwa Nassarawa, the emir’s annual line of activities that include traditional homage to Government House, royal sight-seeing around Kano metropolis and other important places before returning to his palace.

Sources close to both parties said that Ganduje’s decision to call off the emir’s graceful outing and its colorful ceremonies was a fallout of their political disagreement in the run-up to the 2019 elections, a development that is already threatening the security architecture of the state more than two months after the polls.

The monarch has until this morning to respond to the issues raised in the query. Following a government-sanctioned probe of the emirate, the commission had indicted the Emirate Council of misappropriation of about N4 billion. The emir’s Chief of Staff, Alhaji Munir Sanusi confirmed receipt of the query in a telephone interview with The Guardian.

Ganduje was absent on Wednesday when the Hauwa Dauche, a presumably largest assembly of horses in Africa, turned bloody at the Kofar Kudu’s emir palace. An unconfirmed number of persons were reported dead and many sustained wounds as palace guards and local hunters confronted hoodlums who attempted to disrupt the ceremony.

A statement by Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, gave reasons for the Kano State Government’s actions against the emir, citing security threat, among others.

“After a security meeting that was held between governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje with all the security agencies concerning all sallah celebrations, as it is usually done, there was an intelligence report of fear of breach of peace during the upcoming event. For this reason and the intelligence report, the state government declares Hauwa Nassarawa cancelled,” he said.