Years after Sanusi’s controversial dethronement in 2020, while ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje was still in office, the latter publicly acknowledged Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano.

Ganduje made the official recognition during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Deputy Governor, Murtala Sule Garo, at the Government House, an event that attracted top political and traditional figures in Kano.

The former National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) paid the due traditional recognition while observing protocols.

Ganduje attracted applause when he addressed Sanusi as “Your royal highness, the emir of Kano” immediately after recognising the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ismail Jibrin Falgore, who sat next to Sanusi.

The acknowledgement came eight years after Ganduje balkanised the Kano emirate into five independent emirate councils, reducing the traditional authority of Sanusi to eight local government areas.

Ganduje, then governor, subsequently, in 2020, dethroned the ex-Central Bank Governor and replaced him with Aminu Ado Bayero, son of the 14th emir of Kano.

Fate returned Sanusi when Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf assumed power, with Ganduje continuing to pay loyalty to Aminu Bayero as Emir of Kano, while the legal tussle lasted at the Supreme Court.

Shortly after taking the oath of office, Garo renewed his loyalty to his principal and restated his commitment to support policies and programmes to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Kano.