On Wednesday, April 9, Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), raised concerns about a plot to destabilize Kano State and create a situation that could lead to the Federal Government declaring a state of emergency.
He made these claims during an appearance on Jigsaw, a political programme aired on AIT.
Galadima alleged that the plan was being orchestrated without the knowledge of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stating, “On the Kano situation, unknown to him—and I can beat my chest that he didn’t know—Tinubu didn’t know what happened, what was arranged.” He further suggested that there was a grand design involving the Kano State government, including the Emir, to create conditions for the declaration of a state of emergency.
He claimed that a high-level meeting took place at the residence of a senior government official in Abuja to strategize this plot. “There was a meeting in a senior official of government’s house in this Abuja, and the man that was supposed to be appointed Emir was sent to Umrah, and as I speak to you now, he is in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Galadima alleged that the plan involved detaining the current Emir of Kano in Abuja, which would trigger military intervention and lead to the throne being declared vacant. “Their thinking is that once the Emir is invited today, he will be detained in Abuja. Once he’s detained, the military will be put on alert and the throne will be declared vacant,” he added.
When asked by the programme’s anchor to reveal the identity of the individual allegedly being prepared for the Emirship, Galadima declined, saying, “No, I don’t want to mention names. Go and find out who is in Saudi Arabia out of the princes in Kano. Everybody in Nigeria knows what is happening.”
These allegations come amid a recent development involving the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi. On Monday, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, withdrew an earlier invitation for the Emir to report to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, which was related to investigations into alleged killings during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
