A FEDERAL High Court in Kano on Thursday, June 20, reinstated deposed Emir Ado Bayero as the Emir of Kano, consequently annullng the state government’s reinstatement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the emir.
The Court abrograted the Kano State Emirate Law 2024, which had dissolved the five Emirates in the state.
It also dismissed the state government’s repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law, which the state had used to remove Sanusi and install Bayero as emir.
The judge, Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, in his ruling, ordered all parties involved in the case to maintain the status quo.
In April, the Kano State House of Assembly abolished the law which brought Bayero into office and enacted the Kano State Emirate Law 2024. The repealed law had created an additional four emirate councils – Bichi, Rano Karaye and Gaya, under the state’s immediate past governor and current national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje.
Ganduje’s party was defeated by the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) led by his predecessor, former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso. Since the incumbent Governor Abba Yusuf took over power, the state government had vowed to return Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, sacked by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
A kingmaker in the defunct Kano Emirate, Aminu Babba Danagundi, also known as the Sarkin Dawaki Babba, through his attorney, Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN) sued the Governor Yusuf-led government to contest the new law’s validity and requested that the court void it.
Sanusi’s reinstatement threw the state into confusion as the dethroned Emir Bayero refused to relinquish his office.
The matter had been pending in court, as both the state High Court and a Federal High Court in the state issued conflicting orders on the matter.
Bayero moved into a mini palace in the Nasarawa neighbourhood of the Kano City, while Sanusi occupied the main palace in the city centre.
The development had led to name-calling between the federal and state governments, with Kwankwanso declaring that the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government was behind the impasse over the state’s emirship.
Meanwhile, the state police command, which had also faced criticism from the state government, said on Thursday that sufficient manpower and resources had been placed around key locations in the state, including the court where the decision would be made to prevent a breakdown in law and order.
The ICIR reported that a Federal High Court in Kano on June 14 ordered the state government to pay N10 million in compensation to Bayero, for breaching his fundamental human rights.
The court headed by Simon Amobeda, gave the directive while delivering the judgment in the case initiated by Bayero seeking the enforcement of his fundamental human rights.
The judge described the order given by the state Governor Abba Yusuf to arrest the deposed emir as illegitimate.
The ICIR reported on Thursday, June 13, that the Kano State Police Command banned durbar activities in the state as the Muslim faithful celebrate Eid-El-Kabir.
The state government has yet to respond to the latest ruling by the Federal High Court.
A reporter with the ICIR
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