Former National Vice Chairman, North West of the All Progressive Congress, Salihu Lukman, has expressed disaffection over what he called the perceived involvement of the federal government in the power game arising from the dethronement of Ado Bayero as Emir of Kano.
Lukman in a statement entitled, “Reckless Pointers of Political Suicide,” noted that the attempt to use security agencies to upturn the Kano state government decision to enthrone Lamido Sanusi as new Emir contravene provisions of the Nigerian Constitution which vested State Governors with powers to legislate on traditional institutions.
Lukman declared that the poor performance of President Bola Tinubu administration in the last one year which he noted has impoverished the average Northerner would undermine the APC electoral fortune in the region in next general elections.
The statement reads in part:” As a member of APC from the North-West, I am scandalised that my party has degenerated to a level below any democratic standard. The only rationale so far is to restore the old abrasive politics of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in Kano State by undermining the Kano State Government led by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. We must remind leaders, President Asiwaju Tinubu in particular, that the fundamental reason why APC lost Kano State to NNPP was the reckless way Dr. Ganduje managed politics in Kano State. The dethronement of Emir Sanusi in 2020 on account of the disagreement between Dr. Ganduje and the Emir was very unnecessary and unfortunate. For Dr. Ganduje to have descended on the Kano Emirate the way he did in 2020, only created the basis for politicising the Kano Emirate, which is now reducing the tenure of Emirs to correspond with the tenure of Governors.
“Could the objective of the Federal Government’s intervention be to restore the revered status of Emirs? How is that possible given the reality that, however considered, the Kano State Government has the legitimate constitutional authority to manage affairs of traditional institutions? If as is being claimed that the directive of the Federal Government to security agencies is to enforce the court order stopping the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi, how is that going to be possible? Except if the mission is to create lawlessness based on which we return to the old garrison politics of former President Obasanjo era when cheap political excuses are used to impose state of emergencies and remove sitting Governors, it is very difficult to understand the possible mission of the Federal Government in Kano State with respect to the unfolding politics around the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi.
“As things are, the action of the Federal Government in Kano State can only lead to further destruction of the APC in the State and by extension in the whole North. Let no one be deceived, already the APC has been weakened both in Kano and the whole North by several factors, the most important of them is the fact that we have not lived up to our campaign promises to Nigerians since 2015. Unfortunately, given the way we have rolled out policies that crashed standard of living of citizens under the current administration of President Asiwaju Tinubu, the support base of the APC in the North has further shrank. Perhaps, President Asiwaju Tinubu and all those behind the reckless attempt to trample on the constitutional authority of Kano State Government should be reminded about the fact of our poor electoral performance in Kano State and the North-West during the 2023 Presidential elections.”
