Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, has said the role of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai in his emergence as emir has been misunderstood.

He said their relationship was primarily rooted in family ties.

Bamalli, who will mark six years on the throne in October, said El-Rufai is his father’s cousin, stressing that the former governor’s relationship with him should not be interpreted as having been responsible for his emergence.

“I am his uncle. I am his father’s cousin. Myself and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, are his uncles. That is the relationship,” the emir said.

The monarch spoke in an interview with Weekend Trust ahead of his sixth anniversary on the throne.

Bamalli said the circumstances surrounding his emergence had often been misunderstood, particularly because he was outside Nigeria when the late Emir Shehu Idris died in September 2020.

He was then serving as Nigeria’s ambassador to Thailand, with concurrent accreditation to Myanmar, and had to make arrangements to return home during the COVID-19 lockdown.

According to him, he paid $9,000 for the journey back to Nigeria with his wife and two daughters, contrary to claims that El-Rufai chartered an aircraft to bring him home.

“I paid; the receipts are there. Or you can check the Nigerian Embassy in Bangkok. They paid for me and my family to return home. We paid $9,000 and got back home,” he said.

Bamalli said El-Rufai’s involvement only became apparent after he arrived at Abuja airport, where the governor’s aide, Peter, saw him and informed the former governor that he had arrived.

He said El-Rufai subsequently directed that his vehicles should convey him and his family to Zaria after the aide that went to pick from the airport missed his flight.

Bamalli, however, said he had already made arrangements to travel to Kaduna by train before accepting the offer.

The emir also revealed that he was initially reluctant to join the succession race before he was pressured to do so. (Daily Trust)