In the wake of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s viral September 23 letter decrying the silence of trusted allies, public attention has turned toward Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II. Observers have questioned whether Sanusi’s apparent quietness constitutes a betrayal, given how El-Rufai famously rescued him from banishment in 2020.
However, evaluating the situation requires examining the starkly different political realities between the two periods. When El-Rufai flew to Nasarawa State in March 2020 to pull Sanusi out of confinement, he did so backed by the formidable armor of executive power, constitutional immunity as a sitting governor, and strong federal ties.
Today, Sanusi occupies a profoundly more vulnerable and precarious office. Having already been dethroned once and subsequently restored by a shifting political landscape in Kano, the monarch wields no executive authority or legal safety net.
El-Rufai is currently facing serious legal battles and detention under federal authorities stemming from anti-corruption investigations into his administration. For Sanusi to launch a high-profile or public intervention would risk inviting severe political retaliation that could cost him his throne entirely.
While El-Rufai’s sense of hurt is understandable given the psychological toll of incarceration, demanding symmetrical reciprocity in asymmetrical circumstances is unrealistic. Expecting a vulnerable traditional ruler to risk his position to match a former governor’s past defiance confuses self-preservation with betrayal.
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