Kano votes N99m to reconstruct Bayero’s palace
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Kano State Executive Council has approved the sum of N99,928,541.63 for the reconstruction and renovation of the defective wall fence and surroundings at the Nasarawa Emir’s palace, where the 15th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, currently resides.
Governor Abba Yusuf disclosed this on his official Facebook page as the outcome of the council’s 15th meeting held on Saturday.
The state government, on Thursday, ordered the eviction of Bayero from the mini palace in the Nasarawa area of Kano metropolis despite a court judgment nullifying his dethronement by the government.
Bayero was displaced from the main palace of the Emir of Kano and moved to the mini palace at Nasarawa following the reinstatement of Muhammad Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
However, the Federal High Court nullified Sanusi’s reinstatement and affirmed Bayero as the Emir of Kano.
The state government said it would appeal the judgment while it ordered the demolition of the Nasarawa palace occupied by the embattled Bayero.
The mini palace was, however, fortified with security, preventing the planned demolition.
The government also asked the police to evict Bayero, an order the Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel, in the state rejected.
Governor Yusuf, in a statement on his Facebook page on Sunday, however, said the state executive council approved the sum of ₦99,928,541.63 for the reconstruction and renovation of the defective wall fence and surroundings at the mini palace.
The statement added that the council also approved the renovation and upgrade of the D-Ward for the establishment of a Sickle-Cell Care Unit at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano, at the sum of N81,621,546.76, as well as a contract for the construction of a Post-Midwifery Institute at Gezawa Local Government Area at the sum of N770,858,450.39.
The council also approved a contract for the completion of the construction of the College of Nursing and Midwifery at Madobi Local Government Area at the sum of N57,066,422.52.
The statement added that the council earmarked the sum of N447,621,640.79 for the payment of the excess workload allowances for lecturers in the two state-owned universities, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology Wudil and Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano.
In May, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities of the two institutions embarked on a two-week warning strike to call the attention of the government to issues of non-reinstatement of the governing council; non-payment of outstanding entitlements and gross underfunding of the university, among others.
