KWANKWASO, BAYERO DIFFER ON NEW WAZIRIN KANO

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, are on collision course over the appointment of Sheikh Muhammad Nasir Muhammad as the new Wazirin Kano. The stool of the Wazirin Kano became vacant on August 2, 2013 following the death of Sheikh Isa Waziri who was the 8th Waziri of Kano under the Fulani dynasty. Our correspondents gathered that trouble started when the emir nominated Shiekh Nasir, his childhood friend, as the successor to the late Isa Waziri. The emir served the family of the late Waziri a quit notice but the state government through a letter signed by the SSG, Alhaji Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, issued a contrary directive asking the family to stay. The state government reportedly opposed the choice of Sheikh Nasir but despite the opposition the emir went ahead to install his preferred candidate. Sheikh Nasir was turbaned at a brief ceremony held at the emir’s palace last Friday. It was gathered that in order to stop the turbaning, the state government sent the Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to the palace to convey the government’s position on the stool. However, the emirate council went ahead with the turbaning ceremony, a development that forced the deputy governor to leave the venue immediately and rushed back to inform his boss of the incident. Following the development, it was gathered that state government invited top members of the emirate council to Government House on Sunday. It was further learnt that when the issue was not resolved, the meeting was rescheduled for last Monday. Daily Trust gathered that the emir refused to shift ground on his choice. The Waziri stool is seen as the emir’s deputy and he is among the kingmakers in Kano emirate council. Speaking on behalf of the state government, the deputy governor said the state government had rejected the appointment because it was made despite an advice by the government and security agents against it. Ganduje who spoke to Daily Trust through his spokesman, Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu, said before the appointment, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had sent him to the palace to convey the government’s advice that the emir should shelve the appointment of the Waziri for security reasons. “But the emirate council dismissed the government’s advice and went ahead to make the appointment. When the deputy governor noticed that the emirate council would not respect the advice, he left the palace immediately,” Dawakin Kudu said in a phone interview. “Therefore the government is not supporting the appointment of this Waziri and it has made its position clear to the Emir,” he added. He said the emirate council had told the government that it was studying the issue and will announce its stance in due course. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Wazirin Kano, Sheikh Muhammad Nasir Muhammad said he remained the Wazirin Kano. “It was the emir who appointed me and I’m just hearing it from you that the state government is against my appointment. My appointment as Wazirin Kano is the will of God. If you do not believe in what He did then He will deal with you Himself,” he said.[Daily Trust]