Kano Emirate tussle: Gov Yusuf, others face US visa ban

Under the auspices of the Save Kano Coalition, a coalition of civil society organisations in Kano State has encouraged the US and other international community members to place limitations on visas for Governor Abba Yusuf and his cabinet members.

The coalition said that some of the governor’s activities in the current Kano Emirate dispute have caused rifts among the state’s residents.

ZINGTIE recalls  that the State Emirate Council Law 2019, which dissolved the state’s five emirates, was repealed by the Kano State House of Assembly in June.

Following the bill’s signing, the governor removed five emirs, among them Ado Bayero, who had been named Kano’s emir by the outgoing governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Following Bayero’s removal, Governor Yusuf restored Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to his position as Emir of Kano. Sanusi was deposed in 2020.

The development has led to inconsistent court orders and controversy throughout the state.

The Kano CSO coalition voiced concerns about state security in the wake of the scandal, emphasising that the conflict between the Emirate has caused instability that could result in the breakdown of law and order.

They claimed that the situation would result in a public altercation between the governor’s allies and the law enforcement organisations, who refused to remove Bayero from the palace.

The Coalition asked the US ambassador to impose sanctions on the governor in a petition dated June 28, 2024, which was signed by Aminu Abdullah, the convener of the group.

“We call for stringent sanctions against the governor Abba Yusuf-led government in Kano State until he ceases to disobey court orders and bring a halt to all anti-democratic practices.

“We equally demand that travel ban and visa restrictions be placed on the governor and top members of his cabinet.

“We call for the Kano government to be blacklisted from grants and partnership by international organisations and development and or donor agencies whose interests can no longer be guaranteed in the volatile environment which the government has created with their own hands,” the group said.

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