Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Tuesday alleged that Sanusi Lamido was appointed emir of Kano in 2014 to spite former President Goodluck Jonathan who sacked him from his role as Central Bank of Nigeria governor for alleging that $49 billion was missing from the public coffers.
Ganduje stated this at the presentation of a book in honour of the former president titled Dear President Goodluck Jonathan (An Open Letter) written by a former managing editor of Daily Times Newspaper Bonaventure Melah in Abuja.
Ganduje said Sanusi ought to have discussed the matter privately with Jonathan who in turn could have ordered an investigation into the allegation of missing funds.
The governor claimed Sanusi was not the best man to be emir at the time and that he was glad to have dethroned him in March.
He said: “Sanusi was appointed Emir of Kano not because he was the best man for the throne but to retaliate what Jonathan did to him. That was in order to prove that what Jonathan did to him was wrong and that the people of Kano wanted their son as Emir and therefore, they decided to appoint him as Emir.
“But when he was appointed, there was a lot of demonstration with people burning tyres here and there. But because of government backing, he was sustained on the stool.”
Narrating why he dethroned the outspoken former banker, Ganduje said, “When I became governor, I said ‘yes, the Jonathan medicine is an important medicine.’ That medicine, even though I am not a medical doctor, but that medicine would serve the same purpose, for the same disease and the same patient.
“So, I took my ‘Jonathan medicine’ and decided to save the system, to save the institution and I applied it effectively. So, Jonathan and I are on the same page. Actually, I have no regrets.”
