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Muhammadu
Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, is facing claims of misuse of royal finances
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One of Nigeria's most
prominent Muslim leaders is under investigation on suspicion of embezzlement,
fuelling rumours that some want him removed after he made a series of comments
about the need for social reforms.
AFP
report continues:
Anti-corruption
investigators are looking into the accounts of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu
Sanusi II, following allegations of gross mismanagement of royal finances.
"We
have gone far in the investigation... to safeguard the honour and prestige of
the emirate council," the head of the anti-corruption unit in the northern
state of Kano, Muhyi Magaji, told AFP.
The
treasurer and secretary of the state-funded royal court have been summoned for
questioning on Tuesday, he added.
A
source familiar with the investigation said the probe centred on the use of ₦6billion (US$19 million, €17 million) of palace funds to pay for luxury cars,
chartered flights, phone and internet bills as well as other personal expenses.
The
council has denied the allegations.
"The
emirate council has never bought a Rolls Royce for the emir," treasurer
Mahe Bashir Wali told reporters last Monday. "These cars were given as
gifts by his friends after he became emir."
Wali
maintained that the emir always bought his airline tickets with personal money
and that the state government approved all his spending.
- Courting criticism -
The
emir, who is revered in Nigeria's Muslim-majority north and whose guidance is
sought in spiritual and temporal matters, was appointed in June 2014 after the
death of his predecessor, Ado Bayero.
In
the last three years, the Western-educated ruler has broken with royal
tradition, speaking out about the need for social reform in a fiercely
conservative region.
To
some extent, that is unsurprising.
In
his previous job as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, as he was then known, caused shockwaves by alleging a US$20 billion
fraud at the state-run oil company.
In
response, the president at the time, Goodluck Jonathan, suspended the trained
economist and banker in what many saw as politically motivated retribution.
As
emir, Sanusi has said that men without sufficient means should not take more
than one wife, prompting protests from clerics and residents in a city where
polygamy is deeply entrenched.
He
has also hit out at the federal government's economic policies, saying they
have led to poor governance and lack of development in the north, setting him
on a collision course with the authorities in both Abuja and Kano.
Recently
he publicly criticized the governor of the neighbouring state of Zamfara, who
blamed divine retribution and "fornication" for a mass outbreak of
meningitis that has killed more than 800 people in the north.
- 'Truth to power' -
The
Kano emirate dates back more than 1,000 years, during which time it has
developed norms and etiquette to which every emir is expected to adhere.
That
includes maintaining a dignified silence and avoiding open confrontation with
political leaders, instead cultivating them in private for the greater public
good.
A
Zamfara senator, Kabiru Marafa, has accused Sanusi of "derailing from the
tradition laid down by the former occupants of the throne he is sitting upon
now".
"He
is no longer a whistle-blower or a university lecturer," he was quoted as
saying by The Punch newspaper in an interview.
Sanusi's
supporters reject the assertion.
"Telling
truth to power is in his blood, it runs in his lineage and nothing can make him
change," one of the emir's aides said.
"This
is raw politics and nothing more," added Nura Ma'aji, an anti-corruption
activist based in Kano.
"The
emir has come out bluntly and told truth to power... (and) the state government
is using the anti-corruption commission to disgrace him."
- History repeated? -
The
appointment of traditional rulers in Nigeria is agreed by a committee of
"kingmakers" and subject to the ratification of the state governor,
who also reserves the right to remove them from office.
Sanusi's
grandfather, Sir Muhammad Sanusi, found himself in a similar situation in 1963
after nine years as emir.
He
wielded power as one of Kano's most charismatic emirs but was forced to
abdicate, allegedly for embezzling tax funds and insubordination to political
authority.
"The
truth of the matter is that (he) was removed because of his arrogance and
refusal to accord the then regional government the respect it deserved,"
said journalist and blogger Jaafar Jaafar.
"His
indictment by a report of a commission was only used as a pretext to dethrone
him. And from all indication his grandson is following in his footsteps."
The current emir has yet to
make any comment on the claims.
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