Group cautions Sanusi against incessant attacks on Buhari

EMIR of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has been urged to desist from his incessant attacks on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid unnecessary consequences.

Pro-democracy group, Coalition for Democratic Norms (CODEM), made this call on Monday in a release made available to Tribune Online, in reaction to comments made by the emir on the handling of the country’s economy by the Muhammadu Buhari- led administration.

Expressing this view, the Kano-based group, in a statement jointly signed by Balla Abbe Kazaure and Usman Dan Numa Gazkiya, National Coordinator and General Secretary respectively, said, “Emir Sanusi, going by his position must have had several open channels to get to the presidency to ventilate his ideas on economy than attacking the seat of power openly.”

CODEM recalled that the Emir seemed not to have learnt from history that whoever lived in a glass house should not throw stone, asserting that, “no emirship has the capacity to defend any glass house when the act of throwing stones boomerangs.”

Though the group agreed that everybody had the right to advise or criticise the government, it, however, warned that it was not when such a person was vulnerable.

The group, while going down the memory lanes, said, “As it is, the position of an emir is too vulnerable to guarantee the comfort of public commentary, especially making a career out of acerbic take on government policies.

“Powerful traditional rulers like Sultan Dasuki and Emir Jokolo were all stripped of their titles in one day; no processes, nothing. That’s how ‘useless’ the traditional authority is in our present arrangement.

“Emir Sanusi’s own grandfather was only casually invited to Kaduna in 1963. On arriving the Governor’s Office, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, drew out a prepared letter of resignation alongside the report of DJM Muffet report of inquiry into Kano Native Authority finances, he was advised to sign the letter. He did.

“He went into the office as an emir with all the paraphernalia and emerged out of it as a “retired” emir. He was immediately exiled to Azare, in present day Bauchi State.”

The group reminded that Emir Sanusi was reminded that he was the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor only recently, and should, therefore, not be oblivious of the fact that “if the government wants, it could get proverbially a thousand and one things to use against him.”

The concerned group cited issues of Financial Reporting Council report, Forex Management under him as well as bailout for banks as examples.