THE Kano State House of Assembly has passed the Kano State Emirates Council Establishment Bill 2024 to establish 2nd class emirates in the state.
The bill scaled third reading in a session presided over by speaker, Ismail Falgore, on Tuesday, July 16.
According to the bill, the Rano Emirate consists of Rano, Bunkure and Kibiya Local Government Areas. Gaya Emirate has Gaya, Albasu and Ajingi LGAs, while the Karaye Emirates comprises Karaye and Rogo LGAs.
The bill states that emirs of the three second-class emirates would report to the emir of Kano, whom they would advise on any issue concerning keeping public order, managing communal disputes, or related issues in their domains.
According to Section 3 of the bill, the governor, acting through the commissioner for local governments, will approve nominations and actions made by first-class and second-class emirs.
The creation of the first-class Kano emirate and second-class emirates is contained in Section Four (1) of the bill. The second-class emirs of Rano, Gaya, and Karaye are listed in subsection two.
Section Seven of the bill empowers the governor of Kano State to designate any qualified person as a second-class emir according to Section Four.
However, not included in the bill was the Bichi emirate, established by former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and abolished by the new Kano emirates council (repealed) law 2024.
The administration of the state’s immediate past governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, currently the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), abolished the single emirate system in the state and created the Bichi, Karaye, Gaya, and Rano emirates in addition to the Kano emirate.
Incumbent governor Abba Yusuf’s government, which belongs to a rival party, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), repealed the Ganduje’s law and scrapped the five emirates and all offices created under them.
The ICIR reported on May 23, that the Kano State House of Assembly dethroned the state’s five emirs, after repealing the Emirate Council Law of 2019 that created the five emirates.
The new law created by the lawmakers revived the single emirate system in the state, vesting constitutional powers to appoint a new emir in the state governor alone.
Consequently, the governor, on Thursday, May 23, announced the reinstatement of Muhammadu Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano.
The governor made the announcement immediately after assenting to the new Emirate Bill.
Sanusi’s reinstatement has led to crises in the state with the deposed emir, Aminu Ado Bayero refusing to quit.
Backed by conflicting court’ rulings, the two leaders have maintained their stance on holding on to the throne.
The latest of such rulings was from a Kano State High Court which ordered Bayero to stop parading himself as the Emir of Kano.
The court, in a judgement by Amina Aliyu, on Monday, July 15, also barred four other deposed emirs from posing as the emirs of Bichi, Rano, Karaye, and Gaya.
According to the court’s ruling, they should return the government’s moveable and immovable items in their custody.
A reporter with the ICIR
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