Top Story • Created July 31, 2023 13:16

FACT CHECK: Is It Really True That Kano Coronation Hall is Being Renovated for Emir Sanusi’s Return?

On social media and mainstream outlets, the news of preparations for the return of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi as Emir of Kano is trending. Former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had dethroned Sanusi on March 9, 2020, and also banished him from Kano. The monarch was sent to Loko, a remote community in Nasarawa State, while the expenses […]

FACT CHECK: Is It Really True That Kano Coronation Hall is Being Renovated for Emir Sanusi’s Return?

On social media and mainstream outlets, the news of preparations for the return of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi as Emir of Kano is trending.

Former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had dethroned Sanusi on March 9, 2020, and also banished him from Kano.

The monarch was sent to Loko, a remote community in Nasarawa State, while the expenses of the emirate under him were probed.

Ganduje had also split the emirate into five and appointed emirs who were at par.

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But Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, leader of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the ruling party in Kano, had said incumbent Governor Kabir Yusuf would review the dethronement which he said was done in bad faith.

Kwankwaso, who spoke weeks before the incumbent governor took power had said, “As elders, we will continue to advise them to do the right thing. We tried not intervene in the issue of bringing or removing any Emir, but now, an opportunity has come.

“Those who were given this opportunity will sit down and see to the issues. They will look at what they are expected to do. Beside the Emir, even the emirate has been divided into five places. All these need to be studied. Usually a leader inherits good, bad and issues that are hard to reconcile.”

There were different reactions to Kwankwaso’s comment but the issue was subsequently relegated to the background.

However,  a 10 seconds video posted by a Twitter user, Imran Muhammad, has set tongues wagging.

In the video, posters and designs with the image of Sanusi were seen in the coronation hall which was under renovation.

“The coronation hall under renovation for the coming back of Emir Muhammad Sanusi as Emir Of Kano,” he captioned the post.

The video, which has generated several reactions had been viewed by over 450,000 people on Twitter at the time of filing this report.

However, Yakubu Musa, another Twitter user, tackled Muhammad, saying the two events he linked together were unrelated.

“It’s not about his coming back, but about renaming the hall, Emir Sanusi Hall. Immortalization exercise,” Musa tweeted.

When contacted, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Chief Press Secretary to the Kano State Governor, told Daily Trust that the renovation had nothing to do with Sanusi’s return.

“The history of the coronation hall is synonymous to the 14th emir of Kano Malam Muhammadu Sanusi because it was built for his presentation of staff of office after he was crowned as the emir succeeding late Alhaji Ado Bayero in 2014 during the administration of Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. So traditionally, his picture shall remain there forever. Bringing back the picture of the 14th is part of the ongoing rehabilitation to give the Coronation hall a face lift,” he said.

A senior official in the government house, who asked not to be named, said it was not true that the government was carrying out the renovation because of any purported plans to return the former Emir.

“Go round the government house and you will see that renovation is going on everywhere. There is no talk of restoring former Emir Sanusi and the return of his picture to the Coronation Hall was just to honour him since the building was constructed for his coronation in 2014”, the senior official said.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that the hall has been renovated for the third time since the new government in Kano took over on May 29, 2023.

Verdict: There is no sufficient ground to state that Sanusi is about to be reinstated. There is no smoke without fire; the comment of Kwankwaso, who wields a huge influence on the current administration, could be the basis for those speculating that the monarch is about to return, but the renovation of the hall is not enough reason to justify the reports.

Conclusion: The claim that Sanusi is about to be reinstated is misleading

This Fact Check is produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)

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