By Mustapha Usman, Kano
Against media reports that he was sacked, Isa Bayero, the Principal Private Secretary to the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has revealed reasons why he voluntary resigned from his office.
Mr Bayero, a trained pilot engineer, also served as the palace oracle and chief protocol officer to the emir.
Popularly known as Isa Pilot, Mr Bayero is the uncle of the emir and son of the late Emir of Kano, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi.
In an interview with DAILY NIGERIAN, Mr Bayero said he was surprised by the media reports insinuating that he was sacked for leaking secrets, while he voluntary left the emir.
He said it became necessary for him to speak up in view of the fact that neither the emir nor the emirate council issued any statement to set the records straights that he was not sacked.
“People should first understand that I was not part of the emirate staff. I also refused to accept salary from the emirate council. As a pilot, I flew five former Nigerian presidents. I have my businesses long before this emir was appointed.
“It should also be noted that it was during Soludo as CBN governor that my company was engaged based on merit for currency movement by air.
“When he became emir, I stood by him despite mounting opposition against him because he is my nephew. After all, we are all part of Bayero family,” he said.
Stating some of the reasons why he voluntarily left office, Mr Bayero said he was not happy that the emir ate the humble pie by apologizing despite boasting that he would not apologize to anybody.
“As I said, nobody sacked me or asked me to leave. I left based on principle because the emir is denigrating the throne.
“Initially he boasted that he would not apologize but suddenly he backtracked and apologized to those he was abusing.
“He was doing a lot of things that were unbecoming of an emir and had lowered the estimation of the emirate in the eyes of the public. We did our best to correct him, but he is not listening.
“Let me also make it clear that I served late Emir Ado Bayero diligently without anybody accusing me of leaking secrets or any wrongdoing,” he added.
Efforts to speak to the spokesman to the emir, Munir Sanusi, were abortive as the mobile telephone line he made available to journalists was not getting through.
