A Kano elder, Ibrahim Ado Kurawa, has cautioned former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, over what he described as contradictory comments on his earlier recognition of Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano.
Kurawa, a scholar of Northern cultural heritage, questioned Ganduje’s sincerity on the emirate tussle, insisting that the former governor had already recognised Sanusi as Emir.
He said Ganduje sought Sanusi’s authority for his nephew to be turbaned as a village head.
Kurawa wondered why Ganduje did not present his nephew before Aminu Ado Bayero for coronation if he was sincere about his position on the emirship dispute.
Ganduje had addressed Sanusi as Emir of Kano during the inauguration of Murtala Sule Garo as Deputy Governor of Kano State at the Government House.
However, the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) later withdrew the acknowledgement.
In a statement issued by his former Chief of Staff, Mohammad Garba, Ganduje said his reference to Sanusi as Emir of Kano was merely a matter of courtesy and protocol and should not be misconstrued.
He also stated that only the Supreme Court could deliver the final verdict on the emirship tussle between Sanusi and Aminu Ado Bayero, warning against comments capable of affecting the court’s judgment.
Reacting in an interview with journalists, Kurawa said the matter before the Supreme Court had nothing to do with the appointment of Sanusi as Emir of Kano.
Kurawa was among those who challenged Ganduje’s 2019 balkanisation of the Kano Emirate Council, which led to amendments to the state’s chieftaincy laws.
He said Ganduje should understand that the substantive case before the Supreme Court was filed by a titleholder removed under a law passed by the Kano State House of Assembly and assented to by the governor.
According to him, the case is not about who is the Emir of Kano.
Kurawa said, “The issue before the Supreme Court has nothing to do with who is the Emir of Kano or who is not, as the lawyers representing both Baba DanAgundi and the government rightly stated after the Supreme Court hearing last week. So, it is not Ganduje who will tell us that the Supreme Court has the final say.
“Secondly, when Governor Ganduje enacted the Emirate Law 2019, we went to court. I was among those who instituted the case alongside the late Alhaji Bashir Tofa and 18 others. We challenged the law because of procedural irregularities, and a member of the State Assembly also challenged it.”
Kurawa Recalls 2019 Emirate Law Dispute
Kurawa said the State High Court had nullified the 2019 law for procedural errors, but Ganduje had not removed the emirs appointed under it.
He said, “The State High Court nullified the law because of those errors, but Ganduje did not remove the emirs because he claimed they were appointed under the law. He simply returned to the State Assembly and properly represented the bill.
“Now that Governor Yusuf submitted a bill seeking the repeal of the emirate laws, which was subsequently passed into law, that law itself was not challenged, whether it was properly done or not.
“Instead, somebody went to court alleging a violation of his fundamental rights, which is not enough grounds for the court to remove Sanusi.”
Kurawa maintained that the case before the court was about Baba DanAgundi’s fundamental rights and the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
“The case is not about Sanusi or Aminu, or who is Emir of Kano and who is not. The case is about DanAgundi’s fundamental rights and the issue of jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, as attested by lawyers of the parties,” he said.
