Kwankwaso replies Ganduje, says no regret choosing Sanusi as Emir of Kano

Kwankwaso, who was also a former Minister of Defence, was responding to the comments by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje (his former Deputy), during the public presentation of a book entitled, ‘Dear President Goodluck Jonathan (An Open Letter),” written by a former Managing Editor of the Daily Times Newspaper, Bonaventure Melah.

He also prayed to God Almighty to “save Kano State and indeed the whole country from the present quagmire that we found ourselves.”

According to him, the appointment and coronation of the Emir of Kano involved a consultative process that is guided by law, adding that as the then Governor of Kano State, he knew the type of people to consult when it comes to such critical issues which border on life-long appointments like the successor of the late Emir Ado Bayero.

Governor Ganduje had at the event held in Abuja said he dethroned Sanusi in March 2020 to save the traditional institution from abuse, “even though he was not the best among the contestants.”

But Kwankwaso in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, by his Principal Private Secretary, Muhammad Inuwa, titled, ‘Ganduje and the blabbering of an impostor’, said he opted for the ex-CBN governors because he was looking for a progressive Emir that would succeed Ado Bayero.

He said, “Certainly, everyone that knows Governor Ganduje will attest that he (Ganduje)is not a progressive and hence that was why Kwankwaso deliberately refused to consult him on the choice of Muhammad Sanusi II as new Emir.

“If not for the colossal standing of Goodluck Jonathan, Ganduje’s presence at the event would have affected what is otherwise a fantastic gathering of respectful Nigerians,” he said.

He said that he was therefore not surprised given Governor Ganduje’s “reputation for shamelessness that he attended such an event merely to spread lies and mischief with regards to the coronation and the subsequent illegal dethronement of Muhammad Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano.”

He said, “Therefore, the choice of Muhammad Sanusi II was made among other contestants because he is the most knowledgeable in both Islamic and western education.

“He is the most experienced and enjoys tremendous amount of support and goodwill from the kingmakers, the Emirate council and indeed the good people of Kano state; this was what informed his appointment.”

The former governor cited the glowing tributes paid by Ganduje to the selection and appointment of Emir Sanusi II, as the then Deputy Governor of Kano State to Kwankwaso, on Friday June 13 2014 on a live program on Channels Television and Freedom Radio that ‘Sanusi was the best among the candidates to be appointed as Emir of Kano.’

He said, “It is therefore beyond hypocrisy for Gov. Ganduje to stand on a podium and publicly contradicts himself because of sheer opportunism and malice. Listening to his lies was akin to listening to the braying of a donkey, it irritates you, but you pity the donkey. But we are not surprise.

“Because we know that Ganduje is averse to everything that Emir Sanusi II represents (knowledge, wisdom, experience, progressive ideals, and the love for the common man), and we know that Ganduje always feels diminished and inferior in the presence of the Emir, and we know that Ganduje harbours a pathological hatred for the Kano Traditional Institution, and we know that Ganduje was madly obsessed with reversing everything that Kwankwaso did in the state.

“And we are aware, for these reasons, Ganduje was set, ab initio, to destroy the Kano Emirate. And Emir Sanusi II was marked to be the first victim.

“Let me also put it on record that Emir Sanusi II was abducted and illegally dethroned by Ganduje and his cohorts because of the Emir’s progressive ideas on various issues that affect the people of the State.”