Late Tuesday night, the Kano Emirate Council lost its oldest member and most senior councillor, Alhaji Abbas Sanusi, who passed away at the age of 91 after a prolonged illness.
By early Wednesday morning, the development became a public knowledge in Kano State and beyond. The late prince, who held the prestigious title of ‘Galadiman Kano’, died on Tuesday night, marking the end of an era that spanned over six decades of devoted service to the Emirate.
LEADERSHIP reports that the late Abbas Sanusi was an uncle to the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.
To say he was an influential councillor in the Kano Emirate is an understatement. Abbas Sanusi was the father of Prince Abdullahi Abbas, the current chairman of the Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It’s no longer news that Kano Emirate has been balcanised with two claimants now angling for the coveted throne pending the final determination of the highest court in the land. Apparently, in the ensuing crises, Galadiman Kano Abbas Sanusi was openly neutral without declaring allegiance to either party – 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero’s side and 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.
Recall that the NNPP-led State government under incumbent Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf undid the former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s creation of more Emirates in Kano State, a development that threw up Emir Sanusi II for the second time and sought to displace Emir Bayero.
While Emir Sanusi is being backed by the State Government, Emir Bayero is apparently at the mercy of the court and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State led by Abdullahi Abbas, the deceased kingmaker’s son, and former Governor Ganduje, who is the current national chairman of the APC.
The funeral, which held at the Kano Emir’s Palace and led by the Chief Imam of Kano, Sheikh Prof. Sani Zahraddeen, attracted a mammoth crowd from within and outside Kano.
LEADERSHIP reports that while Emir Sanusi II holds sway at the main palace, his rival Emir Bayero takes refuge at the mini-palace in Nasarawa area of the ancient city.
Apparently, for security reasons, Emir Bayero couldn’t attend the funeral prayer, which took place in Sanusi II’s ‘domain’. Expected, Emir Sanusi II showed up at the funeral prayers alongside NNPP bigwigs, including its national leader, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and Kano State cabinet members.
On the part of APC delegation was the Deputy Senate President, Senator Bara’u Jibril and the party’s chairman in the State, who is the chief mourner, Prince Abdullahi Abbas.
Save for the Wednesday’s sombre moment occasioned by the Galadiman Kano’s death, the Kano political gladiators don’t see eye to eye because political enmity at least since the fierce governorship contest of 2019, where Ganduje was re-elected as the state governor for a second time following a little margin of lead over Kwankwaso’s protege, Abba Kabir Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the PDP at the time before their eventual departure to form NNPP.
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