Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has said that he applied the same formula former President Goodluck Jonathan used to sack former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muhammadu Lamido Sanusi, to also dethrone him as Emir of Kano.

Governor Ganduje, who spoke at the presentation of a book on ex President Jonathan, authored by a journalist, Bonaventure Philips Melah, said: “Jonathan took a bold step in sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, which created bad blood in certain circles.

“When I became governor, (that’s why you will laugh), 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 for 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.”

Governor Ganduje said that Sanusi was not the best man for the throne at the time he was appointed in June 2014, adding that the deposed Emir was appointed to spite former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He faulted Sanusi’s public outburst over the alleged fraud, saying that the ex CBN Governor ought to have discussed the matter privately with the former President, who in turn could have ordered investigation into the allegation.

Ganduje stressed that Jonathan took a bold step by sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, even though the action created bad blood in certain circles.

“When Sanusi said $49 billion was lost in Jonathan’s government, I said in my mind that No, you could have discussed with him (Jonathan) privately.

“You could have given him this clue and then he would know how to investigate even before those who had stolen the money would find a way of hiding the money.

“That statement, I said in my mind was not honourable. That statement created bad blood”.

Ganduje alleged that 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 were a lot of demonstration with people burning tyres here and there. But because of government backing, he was sustained on the stool.

Jonathan had in April 2014, sacked Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over claims by the ex CBN Governor that $49 billion was stolen by some persons under the Jonathan administration.

In June 2014, barely two months after he was sacked as CBN Governor, Sanusi got appointed as the Emir of Kano, a position that Ganduje said he did not deserve in the first place.

Governor Ganduje however sacked Sanusi as Emir of Kano on March 9, 2020, a decision the Governor said he took to “save the system and to save the institution”.

Sanusi was appointed during the administration of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in which Ganduje was deputy governor. He succeeded Kwankwaso in 2015.

The leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has said that his men abducted over 300 students of the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara local government area of Katsina State to discourage Western education in Nigeria, as well as to promote Islam.

In an audio message he posted on SoundCloud today, December 15, Shekau said that the “government was not teaching the pupils what Allah and his Holy Prophet Muhammed commanded,” and that they will continue to abduct students in different schools to show their condemnation of Western education.

Shekau added that “un-Islamic practices such as Western education” in the country must be abolished as that has been one of the cardinal campaigns against the Nigerian government.

“What happened in Katsina was done to promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices as Western education is not the type of education permitted by Allah and his Holy Prophet Muhammed,” the terrorist leader said in the audio message.

“The government is promoting Western education and they are also not teaching what Allah and his Holy Prophet commanded. They are rather destroying Islam. It may be subtle, but Allah, the Lord of the skies and earth, knows whatever is hidden. May Allah promote Islam. May we die as Muslims. In a nutshell, we are behind what happened in Katsina.”

On Friday, December 11, gunmen had stormed the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara local government area of Katsina State on motorcycles, shooting sporadically and abducted the students in their hostels.

Though there have been conflicting figures in respect of the actual number of students taken away by the kidnappers, the state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari said about 333 students were kidnapped, but the Presidency through Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, countered the number, insisting that only 10 students were abducted.

The Sultan of Sokoto and co-Chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has called on the military to occupy Lake Chad region and Sambisa forest in their bid to subdue Boko Haram.

Sultan Abuabakar is not comfortable with the idea of allowing terrorists occupying those strategic places.

He spoke while leading his fellow traditional rulers from the Southwest and Northern parts of the country on a condolence visit to the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, following recent Boko Haram killings in the state.

The Sultan led Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemaka Alfred Ugochukwu, Oba Adekunle Adebayo, Ore of Otin, Emir of Hadeja, Dr. Adamu Abubakar Maje, Emir of Fika, Mohammed Abale Ibn Mohammed Idrissa, Amanyanabo of Opobo Kingdom, KING Dr. Dandasen Douglas Jaja on the visit.

The Sultan, who retired as Army General, recalled how his battalion occupied Lake Chad region for six months, saying: “I read about the comment the Governor made some few weeks ago, challenging the military to take the fight to Lake Chad to clear that place.

“Your Excellency, while I was a Lieutenant, I was at Lake Chad in Baga for six months, my battalion in Bama used to rotate with the battalion in Monguno and Maiduguri every six months. We occupied lake Chad, part of Nigeria for six months.

“I was a Lieutenant, I was the operation officer and I have my maps. In Lake Chad that time we had 36 islands under Nigeria, we occupied 16 of them, the biggest was king Nasara, we controlled that part of Nigeria effectively well as a battalion.

“Now I don’t know why we can’t occupy the whole of Lake Chad and why we can’t occupy the whole of Sambisa forest. If we want peace we have to dominate these areas. If we want peace, we have to do away with those terrorists who occupy that place and see nothing good in other people except those that believe in their own negative ideas.”