The Kano State Police Command is warning about a plot to incite violence in the state over last week’sdissolution of four emirates and the reappointment of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the new Emir of Kano.
On Sunday, the Police Commissioner, Usaini Gumel, told a news conference that credible intelligence suggested some individuals plan to stage protests that could snowball to violence.
He said the police were watching flashpoints including Iyaka Road, Kofar Naisa, Kofar Nasarawa, Brigade, Airport Road, Janbulo, and Sani Mainenge areas in the Kano metropolis.
Soldiers not Involved in Tussle - Army
The Nigerian Army has, in the meantime, dismissed the Nigerian Bar Association’s report that soldiers were attempting to enforce a court order restraining the Kano State government from deposing five Emirs.
The Army’s Director of Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu said the force only took proactive steps to checkmate any breach of the peace in the ancient city State.
Backstory
On Thursday, 23 May 2024, the Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, reinstated the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, who was deposed in March 2020.
Muhammadu Sanusi II
Sanusi II was reinstated after the governor assented to a bill passed by the Kano State House of Assembly, reversing the creation of new emirates by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje's administration.
Back in 2019, the Kano State House of Assembly, dominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC), passed the Kano Emirs Appointment and Depositions Amendment bills, balkanizing the Kano Emirate into five: Kano, Gaya, Karaye, Rano, and Bichi.
Governor Ganduje swiftly signed the bill into law, signaling trouble for the then Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, with whom Ganduje had a frosty relationship.
Four new Emirs were appointed for Gaya, Karaye, Rano, and Bichi, weakening Sanusi II’s influence.
The Kano Emir did not move to mend his broken relationship with Governor Ganduje but doubled down on his criticism of policies that he considered inappropriate.
He also absented himself from state functions, infuriating the Kano government house, and leading to his dethronement in March 2020 for “insubordination.”
A new Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero – the son of Muhammadu Sanusi II’s predecessor – was installed in his place.
Aminu Ado Bayero
Ganduje’s APC lost out in the 2023 governorship election to his archrival Rabiu Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the former governor lost some of his influence in Kano politics.
In a country where state governors have outsized authority, the new governor, Kwankwaso’s son-in-law, began upturning Ganduje’s policies and revoking land titles he had signed.
The latest in the tug-of-war between the Kwankwaso and Ganduje camps is the dissolution of the four emirates Ganduje’s APC government created, the dethronement of Ado Bayero as the Emir of Kano, and the reinstalment of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir.
Not even a court order, secured on Friday to stop Sanusi II’s installment could stop the NNPP government from proceeding with its mission.
Sanusi II has returned to the palace he vacated four years ago. But Ado Bayero, who was out of town last week Thursday, has also returned to Kano, reportedly to claim his throne.
