Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari made several efforts to stop former Emir of Kano State, Muhammad Sanusi II from being deposed and banished, a presidency source has said.
Sanusi was first banished to Loco village in Nasarawa and then moved to Awe before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered his release from detention.
Following his release in obedience to the order, Sanusi travelled from Awe to Lafia, Nasarawa, then to Abuja, and finally arrived Lagos, where he was reunited with his family.
Sunday Sun learnt from the source that contrary to allegations of collusion in the plot to dethrone Sanusi, the presidency had intervened at many stages of the conflict to avoid escalation in the last two years but the efforts collapsed because of the intransigence of the two sides in the dispute.
The source informed that when Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s administration made up its mind to remove Emir Sunusi as far back as 2017, the governor had informed President Buhari, who, the source said, kicked against it.
“The President Buhari said, outright, that it was inappropriate and requested that the plan be shelved,” the source said.
“This meeting was followed with a written letter to the governor dated November 17, 2017 in which the President’s advice was clearly stated.
“The President directed his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, to follow up for a peaceful resolution of the crisis of confidence between the two.
“This led to the setting up a committee made up of five state governors led by that of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. They did their best. Calm returned but occasional flare-ups continued and were aggravated by the tense situations under which the governor reemerged for his second term in the 2019 general elections.
“In the course of that period, Governor Fayemi, his Jigawa State counterpart, Abubakar Badaru and to some extent the Inspector General of Police made several expeditions to Kano, to prevail on the governor not to remove the Emir in those tense moments in the interest of peace and security. The main grouse of the administration was that the Emir had failed to stay above the fray of partisan politics, especially as it related to the governor’s re-election,” the source said.
