Kano Assembly set to review law used in dethroning Sanusi

The Kano State House of Assembly has commenced the process of amending the Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) Law amidst call for the return of the deposed 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi.

The House resolved to amend the law after the Majority Leader and member representing Dala constituency, Hussien Dala, moved the motion during plenary on Tuesday.

Daily Trust reports that the law was first amended in 2019 during the rift between then-Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the deposed Emir.

The first amendment had broken the Kano emirate into five different emirates with the creation of Rano, Karaye, Gaya and Bichi Emirates, and the appointment of First Class Emirs for the new emirates, eventually culminating in the deposition of then Emir of Kano.

But following the electoral victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who had campaigned with the restoration of the old Kano Emirate system, several groups renew the call for the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi.

One month before Governor Yusuf assumed office, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, leader of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the ruling party in Kano, had said issue of the emirates would be reviewed.

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“We campaigned and we are well-known in Nigeria, especially in Kano. What we showed the people is by God’s grace all the good projects we started when we were in government. This governor (Abba Kabir Yusuf) and his team will pick up from where we left off,” Kwankwaso had said.

“We as elders in the movement will continue to advice them to do things that are proper. We tried not to talk about whether the Emir would be removed or not, but now you see, the opportunity is there.

“Those who God made leaders will now decide on the next step and decision to take. They will review it and determine what is the right thing to be done.

“Apart from the issue of changing the emir, the emirates have now been divided into five. All of that will be reviewed too. When a leader comes into power whether in a country, state or local government area, he inherits things that are good and things that are difficult and challenging.

“We are confident God will give the governor (Abba Kabir Yusuf) the wisdom to come and resolve the challenges planted in Kano state so that everyone will leave peacefully in Kano state.”

Kano Assembly set to review law used in dethroning Sanusi

Retired police officers protest at NASS over unpaid pensions

Some aggrieved retired police officers on Tuesday stormed the national assembly to express their grievances over unpaid pensions.

The retirees said many of their contemporaries and colleagues have passed away due to the prevailing harsh and crippling economic realities in the country.

In a letter dated May 21 and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, they demanded that they be removed from the contributory pension scheme.

The retirees commended the national assembly for the steps it had taken so far to make sure the Police Exit Bill from CPS and Police Pension Board Bill were passed into law.

They further underscored the need to harmonise these bills and transmit it to president Bola Tinubu for assent.

Dana Air workers protest unpaid salaries, pensions

No fewer than 20 former employees of Dana Air, on Tuesday, expressed grievance over the management’s failure to pay their salaries and contributory pensions.

The staff, who were laid off after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, suspended the airline’s operations over a runway excursion incident, called for the payment of their pensions as well as April and May salaries.

Speaking at the airline’s headquarters in Lagos, the former Aviation Security Supervisor of Dana Air, Mr Eze Chidiebere, lamented their disengagement, saying the situation was more worrisome because they were not paid.

Chidiebere said: “Dana Air started laying staff off through a letter. In the letter, they stated that our services were no longer required. Since the airline’s aircraft skidded off the runway and the regulator, NCAA, suspended their Air Operator Certificate, AOC, even though it is on record that we flew on April 23, the salary for that month (April) has not been paid. We have other issues too. Since the Contributory Pension Scheme was launched in 2014, Dana Air has been deducting it from our monies, yet it has refused to remit the monies to our accounts.

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“We are here to press home our demands that our April salary be paid, and since they are asking staff to go, they are also required to pay staff one month in lieu before paying us off. We are here with empty stomachs and we don’t know what to do next. The reason they gave for the sack is that the airline is expecting a new investor who would take over. However, what we are saying is that we should be paid off even though plans are in place for a new investor.”

Also speaking, a former employee, Mrs Magdalene Onyukwu, said: “We are disgruntled staff asking to be paid. If they are asking me to go, it means they are ready to pay me my benefits. They have to pay us our benefits, our gratuity and our pension. They have to pay us all they have collected from us over the years.”

After its plane veered off the runway at Lagos airport on April 23, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, suspended Dana Air’s operations over the consistent incidents experienced by the airline.

Amid an audit by the NCAA, Dana Air, on May 11, made the decision to temporarily disengage some staff members pending the conclusion of the audit.

A statement by the Head of Corporate Communications of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, had partly read: “In light of the ongoing audit, Dana Air has made the decision to temporarily disengage some staff members pending the conclusion of the audit. This decision has been made to ensure efficient management of resources and to facilitate a thorough review of operational procedures.”

Dana Air workers protest unpaid salaries, pensions