Why Goodluck Jonathan Is Yet To Congratulate Lamido Sanusi

Twenty-four hours after the emergence of a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as the new Emir of Kano, President Goodluck Jonathan has yet to congratulate him on his appointment.

Sanusi was on Sunday named the new emir by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State to succeed the late Alhaji Ado Bayero, who died on Friday.

There has been no love lost between Jonathan and the new emir since the President suspended him from office as the CBN governor on February 20.

A source said that Jonathan’s plan to travel to Kano to pay condolence to the family of the late emir and the members of the emirate on Monday was put off abruptly.

The source said the trip could have been aborted because of Sanusi’s emergence.

But another Presidency source who spoke with CKN Nigeria on condition of anonymity, said the “President cannot do so for an appointment that is still controversial. He will do so when the situation calls for it and everything returns to normal”.

The emergence of Sanusi was seen in the Presidency as a big blow to Jonathan’s fortune in the event that he decided to contest the 2015 presidential election.

He said the combination of the emir and Kwankwaso, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress would spell Jonathan’s electoral misfortune in Kano.

It was not clear at press time if the President would be ready to go and pay homage to the new emir in Kano as is often the practice.