Linus Oota, Lafia/Kelvin Osa Okunbor
Former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was due in Lagos last night after departing his Awe, Nasarawa State exile home shortly after the Jumat prayers on Friday.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had earlier in the day ordered the security agencies to release the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor from protected custody.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State was with him at Awe before the duo left for Abuja.
Rufai told reporters that Sanusi might end up in Lagos where he has some of his family members.
The Nation gathered that a chartered plane was on standby in Abuja last night to convey Sanusi to Lagos.
He was scheduled to land at private terminal/ hangar of Quints Aviation at 9.30 pm under a special arrangement.
A source close to the terminal said the circumstances of the travel would not allow the former emir speak to the media because the terminal is a restricted area.
El-Rufai, who visited the former emir at Awe as a mark of solidarity, said he met Sanusi in ”high spirits, demonstrating his usual calm, poise and regal-bearing” despite his removal four days earlier.
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“His Highness seems to have taken all that happened in his stride but reiterated his commitment to enforcing his fundamental human rights,”the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, quoted him as saying.
He said that El-Rufai, who arrived Awe shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted an interim order releasing Sanusi from detention, also declared that the former emir would continue to “campaign against unworthy timid ignorance.”
The statement said Sanusi and El-Rufai attended Friday prayers together in Awe, where the former emir led the Jumma’at prayers, adding that “hundreds of well-wishers lined up the road of Awe to hail His Highness on his way to the mosque and back to his residence.”
Speaking to reporters before departing Awe with Sanusi on Friday yesterday, the Kaduna governor said the former emir was now at liberty to go to any part of the country, including Kano.
His words: “As you know, the Federal High Court in Abuja today declared his detention illegal and unconstitutional and his banishment also in violation of the constitution, so he is free,” el-Rufai said.
“He can live anywhere he wants, including Kano city, if he wants. But we are on our way to Abuja. It is quite likely that the emir proceeds to Lagos which was his preferred destination from day one.
“From the day he was informed of his deposition, it was his wish to go to Lagos because part of his family is now in Lagos. And by the grace of God we’re on our way to Lagos.”
Asked why he made Sanusi vice-chairman of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) soon after the dethronement was announced, El-Rufai said it was to encourage him to help bring investors and investment to Kaduna.
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