Muhammad Lamido Sanusi during a Durbar.AFP.

Traditional ruler of Kano, largest city in the northern part of Nigeria has been removed from his position on Monday, due to row with the government of the state.

By tradition, the Emir of Kano is the second most senior Islamic ruler in Africa’s most populous nation, after the Sultan of Sokoto.

According to the statement released by the government, Emir Lamido Sanusi, who ascended the throne in 2014, was accused of "disrespect to lawful instructions."

The government said his removal was also to safeguard the "sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige" of the Kano state emirate established over a millennium ago.

Sanusi, a former head of Nigeria's central bank, has been at loggerheads with state governor Abdullahi Ganduje due to his outspokenness against the authorities and allegations he supported the opposition at last year's elections.

Ganduje won re-election as governor and quickly ordered the creation of four new emirates in Kano, in a bid to reduce Sanusi's control and influence.

The traditional ruler has also been probed by state lawmakers for allegedly having misappropriated funds meant for his office.

The embattled emir denies the charges.

In his previous job as central bank chief, the 58-year-old was credited with reforming Nigeria's under-performing banking sector.

But he was sacked from that role in February 2014 after he accused the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of not remitting some 20 billion dollars to state coffers.

Last month, the outspoken emir spoke out about political and religious leaders in the north not doing enough for the region, which he said widened the poverty gap between the mainly-Muslim north and the majority-Christian south.