Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, has on Tuesday, gave reasons for the dethronement of former CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano.
Ganduje in a statement at the presentation of a book on former President Goodluck Johnathan, authored by a journalist, Bonaventure Philips Melah, said Sanusi never should have been enthroned as Emir in the first place, but was chosen in an effort to shield him from former President Jonathan who was at the time, furious with Sanusi over claims by the ex CBN Governor that $49 billion was stolen by some persons under the Jonathan administration.
Governor Ganduje who at the time was one of those cheering and hailing Sanusi for courageously making his allegation against the administration of his former boss public, now accused Sanusi for acting foolishly by making his $49b claim public instead of discussing the matter privately with Jonathan, who in turn could have ordered investigation into the allegation.
Ganduje said Jonathan took a bold step by sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, even though the action created bad blood in certain circles.
The Kano Governor said: “Jonathan took a bold step in sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, which created bad blood in certain circles.
“When Sanusi said $49 billion was lost in Jonathan’s government, I said in my mind that No, you could have discussed with him (Jonathan) privately.
“You could have given him this clue and then he would know how to investigate even before those who had stolen the money would find a way of hiding the money.
“That statement, I said in my mind was not honourable. That statement created bad blood”.
In June 2014, barely two months after he was sacked as CBN Governor, Sanusi got appointed as the Emir of Kano, a position that Ganduje said he did not deserve in the first place.
Governor Ganduje however sacked Sanusi as Emir of Kano on March 9, 2020, a decision the Governor said he took to “save the system and to save the institution”.
Sanusi was appointed during the administration of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in which Ganduje was deputy governor. He succeeded Kwankwaso in 2015.
Sounding derisively jocular, Ganduje said: “Sanusi was appointed Emir of Kano not because he was the best man for the throne but to retaliate what Jonathan did to him.
“That was in order to prove that what Jonathan did to him was wrong and that the people of Kano wanted their son as Emir and therefore they decided to appoint him as Emir.
“But when he was appointed, there were a lot of demonstration with people burning tyres here and there. But because of government backing, he was sustained on the stool.
“When I became governor, (that’s why you will laugh), I said yes, the Jonathan medicine is an important medicine.
“That medicine, even though I am not a medical doctor, but that medicine would serve the same purpose, for the same disease and for the same patient.
“So I took my Jonathan medicine and decided to save the system, to save the institution and I applied it effectively. So Jonathan and I are on the same page. Actually, I have no regrets.”