How I Escaped Lynching At Same Event With Bayero – Kano Lawmaker

Can you tell us more about a reported attack on you at an event attended by the former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero?

What happened was very disheartening. I went to attend the annual Quranic graduation and prayer for peace at the Sheik Isyaka Rabiu residence in Goron Dutse. Goron Dutse is under my constituency and I was invited just like it was always done before, an event that I usually participated with my parents since childhood.

Where I sat was close to where HRH the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero sat when he arrived. Immediately he entered, his palace guards started insulting me and saying all manner of things. They said I was part of those who repealed the state emirate council law that collapsed all the emirates. One of his closest guards raised his hand to hit me but the deposed emir used his hand to bounce him back and directed him to stop.

When I looked at the situation and what was happening, I thought it wise to leave immediately. While leaving, from inside the mosque to the compound of the mosque, I noticed that the majority of those who escorted him carried dangerous weapons like those mostly used by thugs. They followed me and were throwing things at me but God was so kind that as I was approaching the gate, I saw a police van and I hastily jumped inside alongside those that escorted me. They took us to the nearest division; that was how God rescued us.

There are claims of denial by the deposed Emir that the attackers were not part of his entourage. what is your view?

Was it not in his presence it happened? I saw media people like those from the NTA and some using their phones to take visuals with more than 10 cameras focusing on us in the presence of Imams and many others who witnessed it. But maybe it was denied in order to protect the interest of someone.

What are your thoughts on the controversies surrounding the Emirate Council?

For me, it is the interest of the federal government that has further deepened the crisis. This is because all the security agencies are under the federal government.

When someone is doing something that is against the law, it is not right that the security should give such a person protection. As members of the Kano State House of Assembly, the constitution has given us the privilege and rights to review or make laws while everyone in Nigeria is also under the constitution.

We sat and looked at the 2019 Emirates Council Law and repealed it, bringing back the old tradition of one Emir. This brought about the collapse of all the emirates and emirs in the state and provides us with an opportunity to install a new emir. We held the first, second and third readings and the governor signed it into law without anyone bringing any court order stopping us. After a successful outing, someone went to court and came back to say he is an Emir – he should wait for the court’s verdict since he was unable to go to the court before he was deposed. For us, he’s not supposed to call himself an Emir because we made a law and the law disposed all the emirates and the emirs.

Since it is well known that he has been deposed based on the provision of the law and jurisdiction, why would the federal government give him such protection with so much security in a state government’s property to stay and continue to call himself the emir of Kano? This alone is enough to generate crisis. So, those who gave him protection are the ones giving him the opportunity to go out with DSS, Police and go wherever he wants calling himself the Emir. So, it is those who are under that cover that are generating this crisis in the state.

Why was the assembly in a hurry to pass the new law without conducting a public hearing as it has been accused of?

Something that took almost three days with the first, second and third reading! If that was the case, anyone who felt things were not done rightly should have approached the court to sue the assembly for not doing it rightly. But there was nothing as such because what we did was right. It is just that the federal government has interest but we are still praying that anyone with interest to generate a crisis, God will intervene and such a thing won’t happen and we would enjoy peace and stability in the state.

Now, what is your plea to the federal government regarding the current Emirate crisis?

My biggest appeal to President Bola Tinubu is for him to call to order the security agencies. Looking at Kano’s population among all the states in the country; if there is any outbreak of crisis in the state, the impact will be felt across the country. For that, he should call them to order. If repealing the law is justified based on the provision of the constitution and all the emirs and emirates deposed, please they should take Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero away from Kano and wait for the court’s verdict. When it reaches the Supreme Court and God returns him back, we shall all accept and turban him as the Emir. But, for now, he is no more the Emir of Kano. We have repealed the law and up till date, no one has told us what we did was bad.

So, we are pleading with the DSS and Police that give him protection that, please, since he is no longer the emir, he should be relocated to anywhere it pleases him in Nigeria.

There is an allegation that the Emirate battle is of interest ahead of the 2027 election. How true is that?

This isn’t an issue at all. Where were the emirs when the NNPP won the elections? A new party that doesn’t have police protection, House of Representatives and state assembly members or local government chairmen before the 2023 election; is it now that he (Abba Yusuf) has become governor with 26 house of assembly members, appointed commissioners and aides that he (the governor) would now become scared of contesting elections? Anyone who is in Kano knows the state as a Kwankwansiya state. So, being scared of saying an Emir can hinder a successful election is not in order. Don’t forget that there was an emir at Karaye and Rano but the governor won in all those locations.

What can you boast of in your constituency?

The ideology of the Kwankwansiya movement is education while the new logo of the NNPP implies education. What I’m proud of saying is the scholarship I gave to 501 students for Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND). I sponsored them completely free in the polytechnic. Education is one thing we stress in our ideology and it’s the best form of empowerment. I also built a healthcare facility among other things.

Do you think the #EndBadGovernance protest is right looking at the hardship many Nigerians are facing?

As a Nigerian, I feel bad and I’m not happy with all that is happening. The high cost of living is unnecessarily high. We were complaining during the Buhari administration that things were difficult especially when the dollar exchange rate was about N400 and petrol price was about N200. Now a dollar exchange rate is over N1,500 and the price of petrol per litre is N750 and even more in some places. A bag of rice goes for about N30,000 before but now it is about N80,000 and it’s negatively progressing. So, anything that will make things better, even if it is more than protest, and will bring the desired results to make life better, I am in support.

On the 20 trucks of rice delivered by the federal government, should government be pushed before citizens are given things?

To me, it is a shame. Why would the federal government give 20 trailers of rice to states? We in Kano are more than 20 million and when such is delivered what quantity are we going to share and what will be the impact? There is no government that can feed its citizens or give money and food to citizens that will be enough. You can deliver 1,000 trucks to Kano and we will finish it and then tomorrow we will come begging again. The most important thing for me is for the system to work well.

What about the state of insecurity in the country?

I feel like crying whenever it comes to the issue of insecurity in Nigeria. We have the army, police and other security agencies. It bothers me any time I see those boys make videos, talk and sometimes call names of prominent people, yet nothing serious is done about it. For instance, in a recent video, they even pointed out a former governor. What then would one do than cry for the situation to improve?

When things are not fixed rightly, I’m seeing Nigeria as if we are staying in one temporary area and within a short time, it will collapse and anyone that survives would thank God. And that will leave a very terrible and bad history for us.

From former President Jonathan’s administration to date, I don’t know we lack anything. Is it that the crude oil is finished or the market has fallen that we have to experience this kind of challenge? It’s quite unfortunate.

What do you think of the N70,000 minimum wage? Can Kano State afford to pay?

We will look at the internally generated revenue and also what we are getting from the federal government to see what the state can afford. For me, a good minimum wage should not be less than N250,000 but let us not deceive ourselves because we will have to measure how much we can get and how much we are getting since it’s not only salary the state will pay. There are other infrastructural development and so many other things governments do.

Do you think Ndume’s removal as the chief whip of the Senate was right?

Anything that affects democracy and politics touches my heart. Ali Ndume as a senator, even if it is a vulcaniser by the road side, he has the right to say something when it’s not done properly. As a member of the state assembly, I feel happy whenever I’m confronted for not doing things rightly, that gives me a chance to check myself and in any case there is a need for further explanation, then I will explain better to whoever is involved or make adjustments.

As a politician, when you are called to order, I feel there is nothing wrong with that but the shameful thing is how the house presented a letter of his removal because he said the truth. Even if it is not the truth, he’s supposed to be enlightened. So, it’s high time we allowed democracy to work for us as a country.