Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former Governor of Kano State on Wednesday accused President Muhammadu Buhari of ordering the dethronement and banishment of former Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II.
The former senator also denied the claim by Kano State Government that, his administration queried Emir Sanusi three times.
Senator Kwankwaso stated these while speaking in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC.
The former Governor in the interview also faulted the banishment of the deposed Emir, saying he (Sanusi) ought to have been allowed to chose wherever he pleases to stay.
According to him: “Let me begin by saying today is a very sad day in Kano, Nigeria and by extension in the entire world, because His Highness the Emir of Kano (Sanusi) is a global personality.
“What we have seen is very sad because there is no responsible government that is supposed to take the kind of step taken by Kano State Government by dethroning Emir Muhammad Sanusi II.
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“But, the big issue is that, as enshrined by section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution, even if you dethrone someone as Emir, you ought to allow chose wherever he so pleases to stay, that is even when you follow due process to dethrone him.
“However, like people who are close to President Muhammadu Buhari often say that the President does not intervene in disputes; that, if people are in dispute the President just keeps quiet, but we in Kano do not see him (President Muhammadu Buhari) like that; we see him like he selects where he intervenes. And where he is supposed to intervene, he doesn’t, but where he is not supposed to intervene, that is where he does.”
He added: “You see leaders here in Kano State Government themselves are saying they were given the order to dethrone the Emir. He (President Muhammadu Buhari) is the one that gave them the order.”
Asked whether he ever advised the President on the required intervention of the Kano crisis, Kwankwaso said Buhari does not need advice from outside when he had many advisers paid heavily to do the job.
He denied insinuations the Kwankwasiyya movement was taking side with the dethroned Emir, saying whoever knows the ideology of the movement knows it only takes side with the truth.
“The reason they are insinuating that we are supporting the Emir and the Emir is supporting us is that His Highness the Emir had said repeatedly that, whoever won the Kano State Governorship election should be given his mandate. Those are the kind of statements from the Emir that got them (APC Government) angry.
“And you see, the process they followed in the dethronement of the Emir is not the only problem, the most disturbing is the way and manner they humiliated the people of Kano by humiliating the Emir,” he said.
Kwankwaso equally reacted to the allegation that, if he were to still be the Governor of Kano, he would have equally dethroned the Emir, as he had during his tenure issued query to Emir Sanusi three times.
The former Governor said: “I never issued a query to His Highness Emir Sanusi II or did anything that looks like that. What I know is that, if you are Governor or President, you are supposed to know that, you are a leader, helper of the people, lover peace, not to use what you have like the security forces to muscle people like what we saw in Kano yesterday (Monday).”
