Jonathan seeks Sanusi’s support for re-election

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday visited the Emir
of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, in his palace in a bid to get
the traditional ruler’s blessing for his re-election bid.
He was in the city in continuation of the Peoples Democratic
Party’s presidential campaigns.
The relationship between the two became strained last year
when the President suspended Sanusi as the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
Jonathan had suspended Sanusi as the apex bank’s boss over
what was described as financial recklessness and thereafter
directed the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria to further
investigate him.
Shortly after his suspension, however, Sanusi became the Emir
of Kano following the death of the former occupant of the
stool, Alhaji Ado Bayero.
There were unconfirmed reports then that the Presidency
moved to ensure that Sanusi did not emerge as the Emir.
During the Wednesday visit, Jonathan congratulated Sanusi on
his installation and condoled with him and the people of the
emirate on Bayero’s demise.
He told the traditional ruler that he was in his palace to
formally introduce himself, Vice President Namadi Sambo and
other PDP candidates in the election.
“I am here to seek your royal blessing and to reassure the
people of Kano that the PDP is totally committed to
developing the country,” he told the monarch.
In his response, Sanusi thanked Jonathan for the visit and
expressed the hope that his campaign in the state would be
hitch-free.
He stressed the need for all office seekers to go about their
campaigns without violence.
“Democracy is all about giving people the chance to make
their choice and so, there is no need for violence,” he said.
Sanusi urged the people to accept the verdict after the
election and rally around whoever emerged as the winner.
He also advised the Federal Government to intensify efforts
aimed at ensuring security in all parts of the country before,
during and after the elections.
Sanusi prayed for the emergence of leaders that would move
the country forward.
Speaking at the Polo Ground venue of the campaign rally in
Kano, the President said that was why his administration was
committed to producing young entrepreneurs.
He said, “We have said that in those days when they said
Nigeria was at par with other countries, but those countries
overtook us and left us behind. That will no longer be
acceptable by this present leadership.”
The Vice President, Namadi Sambo, told the supporters to
ignore the religious campaign against Jonathan and the PDP,
saying that as the vice president to Jonathan, nobody could
claim to be a bigger Muslim than himself who observed all
injunctions of Islam.
The Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who is the North-
West zonal coordinator of the PDP presidential campaign, told
the gathering that the All Progressives Congress government
of Kano State was a government of deceit.
Recalling the achievements of a former Kano governor and
Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, Lamido
advised Kano people not give in to Governor Rabiu
Kwankwaso’s false pretences but to vote for all PDP
candidates.