Kaduna State government has explained that the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, deposed Emir of Kano into the board of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) is purely for business.
Muyiwa Adekeye, media adviser to the state governor, while explaining what informed the decision of the Kaduna State government to Sanusi, Vice Chairman of KADIPA, said in a local radio station monitored in Lagos on Wednesday, that the state in its quest to expand its scope of investment, was obliged to utilise every opportunity to deepen its resources and investment and take advantage of any available talent.
He said: “Leadership is obliged to spot talent, leadership is obliged to retain talent. Kaduna State is honoured to have a man in the calibre of His Excellency, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to drive its investment as vice chairman of the board of KADIPA, an agency statutory chaired by the state’s deputy governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe.”
When asked, at what point the state started considering the appointment of Sanusi into the board of KADIPA, Adekeye, maintained that the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el Rufai, had made his position known on the appointment, stressing that the state remained grateful that Sanusi would come on board to assist it expand and succeed in its investment plan.
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On whether Sanusi had accepted the appointment, Adekeye said: “He is a friend of Kaduna State and has participated in our investment summit. He is a close friend of our governor and we don’t have any doubt in our mind that the state will continue to benefit from his support.”
On whether Sanusi could perform the duty since he had been banished, Adekeye stressed, “We have no doubt that as a citizen of this country, His Excellency, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, will have no difficulty exercising his right, including that of contributing to the development of Kaduna State.”
On the status of Sanusi as a banished royalty, he said that as a state, Kaduna was obliged to utilise every available opportunity to deepen its investment and take decisive steps to accelerated development in its state, pointing out that where talent was available the state would not hesitate to use it.