The coast appears not clear yet for the newly installed Emir
of Kano, His Eminence, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who was crowned Muhammadu Sanusi
II, the 14th monarch of the emirate in June as there are indications that the
Federal Government might have stopped the planned coronation ceremony of the
former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor.
Saturday Sun gathered that arrangements had been concluded
and guests invited for the ceremony scheduled to hold last Saturday September 6
before it was abruptly cancelled without any official announcement to explain
why.
Another sign that all is still not well within the emirate
is the refusal of the Department of State Security Service, DSS to release the
seized passport of the emir despite his decision to withdraw legal suits
instituted against the Federal Government in the courts to quash his suspension
from office as CBN governor.
DSS operatives had in February seized the travelling
documents of Sanusi following his suspension as CBN governor, shortly after he
arrived Lagos from Niger Republic, where he had gone to attend a meeting of
Governors of Central Banks in the West African sub-region.
Shortly after his plane landed at the ExecuJet Terminal of
the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, he was accosted by
DSS operatives who detained him briefly and released him after seizing his
passport.
President Jonathan had ordered the immediate suspension of
Sanusi from office, alleging that his tenure had been characterized by various
acts of financial recklessness and misconduct inconsistent with the
administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of
focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline.
Not many Nigerians believed, however, that Sanusi was
suspended because he was guilty of any offence as most people argue that he was
removed as CBN governor to punish him for denting the image of the government
through his public indictment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), which he accused of diverting huge federal revenues totaling over $20
billion.
While Sanusi was still locked in legal battles with the
Federal Government at both Lagos and Abuja courts to enforce his rights, the
Kano kingmakers announced him as their choice to succeed the late emir of the
city, Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Bayero. Soon after his installation, the new emir
offered the Federal Government an olive branch by withdrawing all suits against
the government.
Though that is expected to be reciprocated with the return
of the emir’s passport, the government has, however, failed to do so six months
after the seizure, thus blocking the monarch from embarking on any trip outside
the shores of Nigeria.
Investigations reveal that the already planned elaborate
coronation ceremony was called off following pressures from security agencies
warning of a likely breakdown of law and order if the emirate council and the
state government go ahead with the programme which was to give official
recognition to the installation of the emir.
“We had to alert the state government and the emirate of the
danger of going ahead with the ceremony because of grave threats from Boko
Haram and some elements opposed to the emergence of Sanusi as emir within the
city. This is certainly beyond politics but a serious security issue”, a top
security source told Saturday Sun.
Another source within the Kano emirate council, who also
confirmed the last minute cancellation of the coronation ceremony, expressed
frustration over the development. “It was a last minute decision by all
stakeholders given the security reports brought by Abuja people at least in the
interest of peace.
The most unfortunate part of the whole thing is that some
invited guests had to cancel their engagements outside the country including a
prominent traditional ruler in Kaduna State to return home last week to attend
the function only to be told a few hours to the programme that the ceremony has
been cancelled with no specific date in view”, the high ranking chief stated.
While reacting to the well concealed development, a top
official of the Kano State government who does not want to be named because of
the sensitive nature of the issue, admitted that the ceremony was hurriedly put
off because of some issues related to security complications.
“There is no point hiding anything, it is true the ceremony
was put off to enable the state government to complete a coronation arena being
built within the government house since the palace won’t be ideal for such
because of security implications. When completed and a new date fixed, only
invited guests will be allowed to attend the function. The state government
would not want to leave anything to chances at this critical time”, the source
stated.
When asked when the ceremony will now hold, the state
official said: “No one can say, at this juncture, when the programme will hold
but we are hoping it may be after sallah.”
Efforts to get the DSS spokesperson, Maryln Ogar explain why
the security agency was still holding on to Sanusi’s passport proved abortive
as she declined to comment when called on the phone on Wednesday. Subsequent
calls to her line same day and Thursday went unanswered.
There had been a number of Boko Haram attacks in the ancient
city. At least six persons were killed in July in a suicide bombing at the Kano
State Polytechnic.
Source: Sun News
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