As Zazzau Emirates awaits announcement of their new Emir with bated breath amidst suspense, Governor Nasir el-Rufai is awaiting a security report as the selection stage nears completion, a government source has said.
Blueprint learnt Sunday night that the new Emir of Zazzau will be appointed by Governor el-Rufai to replace late Alhaji Shehu Idris, who died last week Sunday, once the security vetting is done and the security report is out.
The five kingmakers of Zazzau Emirate have made a recommendation of three princes of the Zazzau Emirate for Governor el-Rufai to make his appointment of the top choice and announce to the world.
According to the source, “The process of selecting the new Emir is in progress, but you should know that it is a serious exercise that has to follow a series of stages and procedures.
“People just think once the kingmakers make recommendations, all the Governor does is to simply pick and announce the new Emir. It is not as simple as that. The names of the candidates have been forward to a security agency for scrutiny and the Governor is now awaiting the report of the security agency, which I think is the final stage of the process”, the source said.
The government source, equally dismissed the speculations making the round that the governor has jettisoned the recommendations made by the Zazzau kingmakers, describing them as unfounded.
Kaduna state government had last Friday confirmed receipt of the recommendations of the kingmakers, saying that the development was going to trigger a sequence of events in the process of appointing the new Emir.
Governor el-Rufai’s spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, in the statement confirming receipt of the recommendations, quoted Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Balarabe Abbas Lawal as saying that, ‘’Upon receipt of the correspondence from the commissioner, the SSG will avail the security agencies of the names on the shortlist for the necessary checks.
“It is the duty of the SSG to forward the recommendations and the associated security report to the Governor for his consideration. The SSG stated that he can confirm that the report of the kingmakers has now been submitted to the Commissioner of Local Government, a step that will trigger the next sequence of events in the chain of reporting and security vetting.’’
The Special Adviser said that the SSG appealed for calm and understanding as the responsible institutions manage a selection process that was last used 45 years ago.
