Mohammed Jamo Yusuf, Special Adviser to the Kano State Government, has clarified that the governor has the sole authority to remove the Emir of Kano, as stated in a law signed by former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
This statement comes in response to the ongoing controversy surrounding the reinstatement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano and a court order restraining the state government from dissolving the five newly created Emirates.
According to Yusuf, the law explicitly grants the governor the power to remove the Emir at will, and this authority is enshrined in the state constitution.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV’s The Morning Show Programme, he emphasised that the governor’s prerogative in matters concerning the Emir’s appointment and removal is clear and unambiguous.
Yusuf’s remarks were made in the context of legal and political battles that have put the traditional institution of the Emirate under scrutiny.
The controversy intensified following a court order that blocked the Kano State government from dissolving the five Emirates created by Ganduje’s administration.
The reinstatement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was deposed in 2020, has been a particularly contentious issue.
Sanusi’s removal and the subsequent creation of the new Emirates were seen by many as politically motivated actions by Ganduje to curtail the influence of the Emir of Kano.
The restructuring divided the historic Kano Emirate into five separate entities, each with its own Emir.
Critics argued that these changes undermined the traditional authority and historical continuity of the Kano Emirate.
In his statement, Yusuf reiterated that Governor Abba Yusuf’s actions to reinstate Sanusi were in line with the legal framework established by the previous administration.
He pointed out that the governor’s power to remove the Emir is not just a political tool but a legally sanctioned authority aimed at maintaining order and governance within the state.
Jamo Yusuf said, The issue of the appointment or removal of the Emir, as it concerns the law here in Kano State, is that by the Act that was signed then by his Excellency the former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, it was clearly stated in the act that the governor has the sole prerogative and power to remove the Emir whenever he finds reasons to do that.
“So it’s clear that only the governor has that power and right to do, and it is the governor that is now exercising his own constitutional power.”
