Emir Sanusi II Takes Over Palace At Midnight As Deposed Bayero Arrives Kano

In a dramatic turn of events reminiscent of scenes in the epic movie ‘Game of Throne’, reinstated Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has taken over the historic Kano Emir’s Palace in the wee hours of Saturday.

LEADERSHIP reports that Emir Sanusi II was earlier on Friday presented with a letter of appointment by Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, following the dissolution of the five Emirate Councils in the State and restoration of Kano Emirate to its pre-2019 status before it was divided into five different domains.

Emir Sanusi II was accompanied by the State’s deputy governor, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam, and other government officials to enter the palace around 1.30am.

The development is said to preempt an alleged plan by the deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero to return to the palace.

The deposed Emir Bayero was conspicuously out of town when the Kano State House of Assembly and the State Government were determining his fate.

Bayero was initially appointed the Emir of Bichi Emirate in 2019 following the creation new emirates and later appointed the 15th Emir of Kano, a position he had held since the controversial deposition of Sanusi II by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in 2020.

However, incumbent Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf announced Sanusi II’s reinstatement as the Emir of Kano after signing a new Kano Emirate Council Bill into law at the Government House on Thursday. The move effectively reversed Ganduje’s decisions, and restored Sanusi II to his former position as the sole Emir in the State.

Although Bayero was yet to publicly comment on the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi II, LEADERSHIP, however, gathered that he had returned to the Kano in the wee hours of Saturday. The governor had given Bayero and the four other deposed emirs appointed by former Governor Ganduje a 48-hour notice on Thursday to vacate their palaces and relinquish all emirate properties to the deputy governor’s office who doubles as commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs.

Emir Sanusi II’s early morning entrance into the palace, under the escort of high-ranking government officials without the traditional pomp and pageantry underscored the tense atmosphere surrounding the Kano Emirate’s leadership tussle that has captured national attention.

Emir Bayero Returns…

Meanwhile, deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero has returned to Kano on Saturday morning to a waiting crowd of supporters at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano (MAKIA).

The aircraft, which conveyed the embattled monarch and son of 13th Emir of Kano, Late Ado Bayero, touched down at MAKIA around 4:32am.

He was immediately surrounded by his supporters, who were chanting a verse from Surah Al-Fatihah in the Holy Qur’an while some others were chanting, “God the Almighty will punish your enemies.”

The former Emir, who was fully dressed in his trademark royal regalia, did not utter a word to the crowd as he took his steps consciously away.

He later observed Subhi (dawn) prayer at the Airport before departing to an unknown destination in the city.