The Sarkin Dawaki Babba of Kano Emirate, Aminu Babba Danagundi, has stated that despite the calm that seems to be seen in Kano State, about 80% of Kano citizens are not in support of the reinstatement of Sanusi II as Emir.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, Danagundi said the perceived calm is only as a result of the respect deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero’s supporters have for the court ruling.
“The reason why Kano was calm and nothing has happened was because of the court ruling; that interim order they gave. If not, it would have been something else today by the supporters of Aminu Bayero in Kano.
“If you go to Kano, 80% of the people do not support what the government did. We have over 20 million people in Kano and you can ask anybody. If you watched the procession, he was stoned. People were stoning him, meaning that they were not happy with him and if you can remember also, when they appointed Sanusi, there was riot in Kano.
“Like we said, if you appoint an Emir that people like, why will you appoint him and take him to the palace by 2:30am in the midnight? It has never been done in the history of Kano. It is the first time we are seeing this kind of thing and it is very unfortunate.”
He recalled the 2019 incident when the emirate council law was invoked to dethrone the then-Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. He noted that the dethronement followed due process and his fundamental rights were respected. He noted that the former Emir was issued a formal query before his dethronement.
“In 2019 emirate council law was used to dethrone Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, but his fundamental rights were not abused then. It followed a due process and he was given a query. As an Emir, you cannot challenge a sitting governor which he did. Ganduje wanted to do a railway project in Kano just like they are doing in Lagos and Lamido Sanusi challenged the governor on that publicly. We are not saying that the Emir cannot advise the governor but he didn’t do that but he went to the press.”
He further stated that following the judge’s order to “maintain status quo ante” meaning to keep things as they are, in the eyes of the law, Bayero is the Emir of Kano and nobody has the right to change it, not even the governor of the state.
“The governor can remove an Emir if he wants to remove him but he has to follow due process if he wants to do that. You don’t just remove an Emir; an Emir of Kano in a day without any query. He was on a national assignment and just for him to hear on radio that he has been removed. It is never done. We are not civil servants; we are public servants. So, nobody has the right to remove you from what you have been doing just like that.
“There is a court order. When I went to court, I got an order. That order is very clear. I challenged the law. So, the judge, in his own wisdom, gave us an order to maintain status quo ante, meaning as of today, in the eyes of the law, it is Aminu Adu Bayero who is the Emir of Kano. Not even the governor can change it because every citizen of the country relies on the rule of law. The governor does not have the power just to remove any public servant anyhow without giving him fair hearing.”
Danagundi conclusively stressed that as long as Bayero remains the Emir of Kano, peace will reign in the state.
“Follow the rule of law. That is why we have courts. If this court gives you an order and you don’t agree, you go and appeal. If they want peace, they will follow the rule of law. As long as Aminu Adu Bayero is the Emir of Kano, peace will reign.”
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