Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso,
on Saturday said the state government will announce a new Emir of Kano
on Sunday (today).
The governor said this after receiving the emirate’s kingmakers at the Government House, Kano.
The new emir will succeed Ado Bayero, who
passed on in the early hours of Friday after an undisclosed ailment and
was buried in Kano a few hours later in accordance with Islamic rites.
The News Agency of Nigeria
reports that the kingmakers who visited the governor were the Madakin
Kano, Yusuf Chigari; the Sarkin Dawaki, Bello Abubakar; the Makaman
Kano, Abdullahi Ibrahim; and Sarkin Bai, Mukhtar Adnan.
Bayero, the longest-serving emir in Kano’s history, ascended the throne in 1963 and ruled for 50 years until his death.
He was named the successor a day after the death of his father, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero.
It was gathered that a list containing
three names was submitted to Kwankwaso, who is to give final approval,
according to tradition.
The immediate past Governor of the
Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido and his uncle, Sanusi Abbas and the late
Emir’s son, Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero, as of Saturday were the three front
runners in the race to succeed the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado
Bayero.
Meanwhile, information gleaned from the
ancient city where the kingmakers are still locked behind closed doors,
indicate that the names of both men feature prominently in a list of
three to be forwarded to the state government for approval.
The former CBN governor is the son of
Muhammad Lamido Sanusi who was a technocrat and a career diplomat who
served as the Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
after serving as Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Belgium and China.
The younger Sanusi is also the grandson of the 11th Emir of Kano and Islamic Scholar, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi.
His uncle, Abbas Sanusi, who holds the
traditional title of Wamban Kano, is also a strong contender for the
job. He is the son of the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Bayero.
Abbas, a senior councillor in the
Emirate, has long been rumoured to have shown interest in the position
over time. His several years of experience in the service of the Emirate
may count in the next couple of hours.