By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
The celebrated planned probe of the Kano Emirate Council by the state House of Assembly was yesterday halted following an intervention by prominent Nigerians, including Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, prominent businessmen, Ahaji Aliko Dangote and Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the northern governors among others.
Disclosing this in a letter to the state legislature yesterday, the state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, pleaded with the lawmakers to spare the Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II and withdraw all the eight-count allegation brought against him.
In the letter which was read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Hon Kabiru Alasan Rurum, Ganduje said the intervention became necessary, since the emir had unreservedly apologised in the wake of the scuffle during a peace meeting held at the behest of some Northern governors who had struggled to prevent the altercation from consuming his leadership.
And after an extensive debate on the matter, it was unanimously agreed that the probe be terminated.
The House, the Speaker said, had no option than to accede to the governor’s appeal, considering his intervention to stop the ongoing probe to allow the revered monarch some respite.
Meanwhile, the governor’s intervention has been widely applauded by some prominent elders and notable opinion leaders, who viewed the stand-off as inimical to the peace and stability of the state.
Emir Sanusi had been in the eye of the storm following allegation of mismanagement of the emirate’s fund.
Although the state anti-corruption agency has already swung into action, the House, however, chose to probe the alleged malfeasance.
A lawmaker, representing Nasarawa Local Government Area, Hon. Ibrahim Gama, had, under a motion of urgent public importance, frowned at the recent comments credited to the Emir over the proposed Kano light rail project to be executed by the Ganduje administration.
Gama, who chairs, the House Committee on Works, believed “the statement from the Emir is capable of tarnishing his image, the government and that of the assembly.
“The Emir, during his speech in Kaduna alleged that the Kano state governor and his entourage, including me as the Chairman of the House Committee on Works, wasted one month in China seeking for a loan to construct rail.”
