The wife of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Asia Mohammad Ahmad, has rejected suggestions that the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was the person her husband referred to in his recent comments about the silence of some friends and associates.
Ahmad made the clarification in a post on her verified Facebook page on Saturday, saying Sanusi remained with the family and urging people to stop linking him to El-Rufai’s statement.
“I want to clarify that HH is with us and Mallam’s post has nothing to do with HRH SLS, so pls stop alluding to things that you don’t know!” she wrote.
Her comments followed a column by Professor Farooq Kperogi titled “Sanusi and the Betrayal of El-Rufai,” in which he examined whether Sanusi was among those El-Rufai referred to in a September 23 statement.
In the statement, El-Rufai reflected on the silence of some colleagues, friends and family members whom he had previously supported, saying their current responses were their own choices and that adversity could lead him to reconsider some relationships. He did not name anyone.
Kperogi argued that Sanusi could be one of the people implied by the statement, pointing to the longstanding relationship between the two men and El-Rufai’s support for Sanusi following his dethronement in 2020.
El-Rufai had visited Sanusi after his removal as Emir and subsequently appointed him to positions in Kaduna State, including as vice chairman of the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency board and Chancellor of Kaduna State University.
However, Kperogi also acknowledged in his column that El-Rufai had not identified anyone by name and that linking Sanusi to the remarks was therefore an inference. He further noted that Sanusi’s position as a traditional ruler was different from El-Rufai’s position as governor in 2020.
Ahmad’s intervention has now directly disputed the interpretation, insisting that Sanusi was not the subject of El-Rufai’s comments.
She added: “I am glad to note that Kperogi mentioned that there may be things people don’t know.”
El-Rufai is currently facing legal proceedings and has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. He has denied wrongdoing.
Neither El-Rufai’s September 23 statement nor Ahmad’s clarification identifies the individuals he had in mind when discussing the silence of people he had previously supported.
