Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has pitched his tent with the recently deposed Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, saying his removal by the Kano State Government on Monday was undeserved.
In a three-paragraph letter dated March 9 and personally signed by him, Obasanjo, under whose tenure as president, the then Emir of Gwandu Mustapha Jokolo was similarly deposed in 2005 described Sanusi’s dethronement as both a sad and good news.
In the letter, Obasanjo told the former Emir of Kano now exiled to Doma in Nasarawa State that: “I woke up this morning and after my morning exercise, devotion and my morning meeting with my staff, I heard the sad and good news of your removal by the Executive Council of the Kano State Government. It is sad because it was underserved. It is good because you have paid the price. “
He added saying, “My prayer is that God should give you the fortitude and the courage to continue on the path that you have chosen for yourself in the best interest of our country and humanity.
“Please accept, Your Royal Highness, the assurances of my highest consideration.”
On April 1, 1981, late Kano State Governor Abubakar Rimi reportedly at loggerheads with then Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero, created four new emirs who were declared to be co-equal with the emir of Kano – those of Auyo, Dutse, Gaya and Rano.
Speaking in a television interview on the issue of dethroning an Emir of Kano, Rimi said the monarch is “nothing but a mere public servant who is being paid from public funds and whose appointment is at the pleasure of the governor of the state and can be removed if he commits an offense.”
