Muhammadu Sanusi II, speaking publicly for the first time since his return to the throne, firmly described his reinstatement as the Emir of Kano as a necessary correction—an essential amendment to the damage inflicted upon the state’s collective history by the former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Sanusi, in a recent interview with Saturday Sun, emphasized that the division of the historic Kano Emirate was never sought by the people, asserting that the current governor, Abba Yusuf, simply restored what was always there.
An Unwanted Division
In March 2020, Ganduje deposed Sanusi as Emir, citing what he called “total disrespect to lawful instructions.” Following this, the former governor oversaw the balkanization of the single Kano Emirate into five separate entities: Kano, Rano, Gaya, Karaye, and Bichi, with new emirs appointed to each. This fragmentation persisted until May 2024, when the State Assembly passed the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024, which abolished the five new emirates and stipulated that Governor Yusuf must revert to the previous, unified Kano emirate structure. Sanusi was reinstated shortly thereafter.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the five now dissolved emirates, Sanusi stated unequivocally, “Nobody asked for new emirates.”
He argued that Kano has “existed for over 1000 years” as a largely homogeneous society, emphasizing that the people are “one” and had no desire to be divided. He contrasted the situation in Kano with places like Kaduna State, where chiefdoms were legitimately created to accommodate huge Christian minorities and different ethnic groups who felt they wanted self determination.
“But Kano is a largely homogeneous society,” Sanusi explained. “If you see the Christians in Kano, they are part of us… Nobody asked for new emirates. So, what we are dealing with is a situation where somebody divided us.”
A History Predating Nigeria
The Emir firmly rejected the notion that any state government had the constitutional right to tamper with the Emirate’s structure. He pointed out that the Kano Emirate “was not created by the Nigerian constitution”—it existed long before Nigeria itself, and even before the Sokoto Jihad.
“The Kano Emirate existed before Nigeria,” he stressed. “You will never find a law in the Nigerian Constitution or any law that created the Kano Emirate.”
Sanusi recounted that the king’s list in Kano dates back to 999 AD. He, in his first term, was the 57th Emir. He argued that since the Emirate was not a creation of the Constitution, the State House of Assembly could only amend an “Emirs Appointment and Deposition Law,” which already presumes the Emirate’s existence.
He noted that when Ganduje initially attempted to create the new emirates, he first tried to amend the existing Appointment and Deposition Law, which the courts struck down. This forced the previous administration to create the law de novo, or “out of nothing,” establishing new emirates that had never existed in the thousand year history of the kingdom. The resulting “Kano Emirate” with only eight local governments was an entity that had never before been seen.
“So, they had the stools for four years and a new governor came on board and said we have to deal with this attack on our system, on our collective history,” Sanusi concluded. He maintained that Governor Yusuf’s decision was about preserving a thousand year history over a four year anomaly, stating, “He says let’s go back to the original order. That was all that happened. It was not targeted at any individual, at any family, at any person.”
