Tag: Sanusi

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Thursday nullified the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th emir of Kano.

The court set aside the new (repealed) emirate law 2024 which purportedly dethroned Aminu Bayero and four other first class emirs in the state.

The court presided by Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman nullified all the steps and actions taken taken by the Kano state government to repeal the old Kano 

The judge faulted Governor Abba Yusuf for disobeying the court order restricting him from enforcing the new law.

Governor Abba Yusuf on May 23 abolished the four new emirates: Bichi, Karaye, Rano and Gaya that were created by immediate past governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje. 

Yusuf sacked Alh. Aminu Bayero and four other first class emirs in the state and reinstated Sanusi, a former CBN governor, as the 16th emir of Kano.

Sanusi, who was 14th emir of Kano, was dethroned by the Ganduje administration that brought on board Bayero as the 5th Kano emir.

Yusuf sacked Bayero after the Assembly repealed the Emirates Council Law 2019.

According to the new emirate law: “All traditional office holders and title holders elevated or appointed to office created under the repealed Principal law, dated 5th December, 2019 shall revert to their position where such positions previously existed under recognised custom and traditions prior to the enactment of the repealed Principal Law dated 5th December, 2019.”

But a kingmaker in the Kano emirate, Aminu Babba Danagundi, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba, challenged the propriety of the law.

Danagundi, an emirate senior councillor, aggrieved, approached the federal high court seeking that a declaration of the new Kano Emirates Council law 2024 be rendered null and void.

The applicant, through his lawyer Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, then obtained a court order restraining the state government from enforcing the new emirate law.

Respondents in the case included Governor Abba Yusuf, state Assembly, the Speaker and state attorney general.

The court on Thursday agreed with the applicant’s prayer and set aside the amended Kano State Emirates Council Law 2024 (1441 A.H) which dethroned Bayero and the four other emirs.

Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman set aside the action of the Kano state government, ordering parties to maintain status quo.

The court held that the defendants were aware of the interim order granted by the court but chose to ignore it and went ahead with implementation of the law.

Read Also: BREAKING: Court voids Sanusi’s reinstatement as Kano Emir

“I hereby order that every step taking by the government is hereby nullified and becomes null and invalid and that this does not affect the validity of the repealed Emirates Law but actions taken by the Governor, which includes the assenting to the Law and the reappointment (of Sanusi).

“I have listened to the audio of the governor, both in Hausa and English, after assenting to the Law, and I am convinced that the respondents are aware of the order of maintaining status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motions on notice in the court.

“Having been satisfied that the respondents are aware of the court order, the court in exercise of its powers set aside an action because it is in violation of the court’s order. I think it is a very serious matter for anyone to flout the orders of the court and go scot free with it,” the judge said.

He said the “catastrophic situation could have been averted if the respondents followed due processes by complying with the court order,“ which would still have allowed them to carry out their assignments.

He noted that the respondents however decided to act according to their “whims and caprices,” a situation which he said landed them in a serious mess.

Justice Liman said he would assume his coercive powers to enforce compliance with his order.

Kano was peaceful on Sunday during the Eid al-Adha.

Tension died down when the two contending emirs prayed in different grounds in compliance with security advice.

“We urge them (emirs) to remain apart and respect the court order,” the Police Commissioner Ussain Gumel said.

Reinstated Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, led the Eid prayers at Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani Jumu’at Mosque in Kofar Mata, Kano.

The monarch advised Muslims to embrace the culture of preaching peace and helping the needy.

He also emphasised the importance of following Prophet Muhammad’s teachings, which he said, emphasises helping the needy, especially during Eid Adha celebrations.

Sanusi urged the public to intensify prayers for peaceful coexistence in Kano and the nation.

Governor Abba Yusuf joined Sanusi to attend the Eid prayers. Accompanying the governor were members of the State Executive Council and other senior government officials.

Deposed emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Bayero, observed his Eid prayers at the Nasarawa palace with his subjects.

Read Also: Tinubu hails fathers as true heroes on Father’s Day

Bayero, who had arranged to pray at the state’s main Eid ground, shelved his plan, in obedience with security advice.

“As a law abiding citizen, I am abiding by the directives of the security to postpone our earlier arrangements of conducting Traditional Hawan Nasarawa and Dubar.

“This is to ensure that everyone goes on with their business without fear of harassment or attack,” he said.

The Nation gathered that many residents performed the Sallah sacrifice and dressed colourfully, in spite of the economic hardship in the country.

Security personnel were deployed across the state to maintain law and order.

A Federal High Court, sitting in Kano, has fixed 20 June 2024 to decide whether the new Kano Emirate Law created by the Abba Yusuf administration should stay or not.

Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, fixed Thursday, June 20 to rule on a motion filed by counsel for Aminu Babba Danagundi Sarkin Dawaki Babba, seeking that a declaration of the Kano Emirates Council law, already repealed, be rendered null and void.

Danagundi’s lawyer Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN moved the motion after the court refused an application for stay of proceedings orally moved by Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN -the counsel to Kano Assembly and the Speaker.

Fatogun drew the attention of the court to the issue, being dissatisfied with the ruling of the court on Thursday, which assumed jurisdiction of the case.

He also filed a notice at the Court of Appeal and a motion for a stay of execution, urging the judge to adjourn considering the processes filed pending the hearing and determination of his application at the Appellate court.

Read Also: Bayero vs Sanusi: Fed high court has jurisdiction to entertain case, says judge

Counsel for the attorney general of Kano State and the state government AG Wakil aligned himself with the position of Fatogun.

The applicant’s counsel countered, saying the authorities cited by the defence were not judicial decisions but rules of court.

Justice Liman ruled that from the acknowledged letter of the defence counsel, it is clear that no date is fixed and there is no evidence that the appeal has been entered.

The judge held that the court would hear the pending application as there was no formal stay of proceedings application before the court.

World Leader of Tijjaniyya Sect, Sheikh Muhammad Mahi Niasse, has strongly denied a purported letter in circulation claiming he appealed to the reinstated Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II to step down and follow his grandfather’s footsteps.

In a counter letter written in Arabic and translated to Hausa, signed by the Commissioner of Religious Matters of Kano State and who also doubled as the Nigeria spokesperson of the Global Tijjaniyya Leader, Sani Auwalu Ahmad Tijjani, said the purported letter asking Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II to step down is a forged document that did not emanate from their leader.

“In fact, the purported letter has touched on the integrity of our leader who sees Muhammadu Sanusi II as his disciple in Nigeria, and a Person of humble background with sound religious character.

“We have given those behind the purported letter to within 24 hours show themselves and explain from where it’s emanated and to whom it was sent otherwise we will not hesitate in taking legal actions against them,” Sani said.

Read Also: Bayero vs Sanusi: Fed high court has jurisdiction to entertain case, says judge

He said already Security have been detailed on the matter and anybody who is behind it will soon face the full wrath of the laws, “because we ask him to be arrested and prosecuted duly”.

The spokesperson of the Global Tijjaniyya Leader said they will not allow the continued destruction of the names of their religious leader and always linking him to things that he had never for once written.

“This is the second time this kind of letter has been forged against our Global Tijjaniyya leader.

“The same thing was done during the previous administration of Umar Ganduje, but this time around anybody who is behind it will have himself to blame,” he said.

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano, presided over by Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, yesterday fixed June 13 to determine whether or not it has jurisdiction to entertain the case filed against the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano.

The state government recently abolished the five emirates established by the previous administration, dethroning Aminu Bayero and four other first-class emirs after repealing the state’s chieftaincy law.

But one of the affected emirate senior councillors, Aminu Babba Dan Agundi, sued the House of Assembly and Governor Abba Yusuf at a Federal High Court, which issued an order restraining Sanusi’s reinstatement.

Counsel to the plaintiff, M. A. Waziri, averred that the Assembly did not hold a public hearing before repealing the law and removing the emirs, thus violating their fundamental human rights. He prayed the court to void and nullify Sanusi’s reinstatement.

Read Also: Sanusi’s reinstatement: Court to rule on jurisdiction June 13

But counsel to the respondents, Muhamud Magaji, submitted that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case, arguing that the appointments and dethronements of emirs in the states were purely a state’s affair.

During yesterday’s proceedings, counsel to both parties argued on the issue of jurisdiction.

Magaji urged the court to “decline the temptation of accepting the plaintiff’s narrative that it has jurisdiction to continue with the case”.

The lawyer averred that it is indisputable that the House of Assembly had powers to amend, repeal, or even enact new laws that suit the state.

He told the court that the plaintiff’s submission was contradictory for saying the 2024 Repealed Law that brought about the reinstatement of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II should be discarded while the 2019 repealed Emirates Council Law that saw the crowning of the deposed Emir Aminu Bayero, should remain.

As the tussle for the throne of the Kano emirate lingers, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has recognised Muhammadu Sanusi II as the lawful monarch of the emirate.

Apart from the fact that all the district heads across the 44 local government areas of Kano, the council chairmen, commissioners and well meaning Kano people and Nigerians consider him as the one on the throne, the NBA has also identified with Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano, by inviting him to their ongoing annual conference in Kano.

The conference, holding at Amani Event Centre, Kano, which had in attendance the President of National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip, NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, Chief Judge of Kano State, Justice Dije Aboki and other legal luminaries, is the first NBA’s annual conference for the entire northern region.

Given the significance of this gathering, the NBA officially invited Emir Sanusi, to not just attend, but to also render his royal blessing and address the participants.

The NBA did not invite Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, having also recognised that the 15th emir has been dethroned by the new Kano chieftaincy (repealed) law 2024. The case was to be heard at the federal high court yesterday but was stalled because of the strike action by organised Labour unions.

Read Also: Ibadan Mogajis pledge support for Sanusi’s transformative efforts

Emir Sanusi, who spoke at the NBA conference through his representative, Mahe Bashir Wali (the Walin Kano), welcomed the participants warmly and told them that Kano has a long enviable history as a cultural and commercial nerve centre of the northern region.

The monarch said the theme of the conference: ‘Administration of Justice in Nigeria: Challenges and Reforms,’ was apt as it was only when there is justice in the land that the society can have peace, which is the prerequisite for progress and development.

For the State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, it was a good opportunity to challenge the NBA members on the conflicting court orders given on the Kano emirate tussle when the case is purely a state affair.

The governor, who was represented at the conference by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Bappa Bichi, told the legal practitioners to always tell their clients the truth when they bring a bad case, even when the truth is bitter, rather than insisting to satisfy their clients by carrying out what is not within the ambit of the law.

To overcome the challenges confronting the administration of justice in Nigeria, the Governor said we must uphold the rule of law and make comprehensive judicial reforms.

Speaking to journalists on the emirate tussle, Barr O.M Femi said the NBA is not unaware of what is happening, “but it is good that the court is to decide, so that non of the parties involved would be aggrieved again. The ruling will set a precedence for lawyers and judges on such matters.

“However, you don’t need to be told or to wear binoculars to see that His Royal Majesty Muhammadu Sanusi II is the current Emir of Kano.

“Nothing explains this fact more than what could be deduced from the ongoing NBA’s annual conference attended by Muhammadu Sanusi II by proxy. The recognition accorded him by the legal practitioners of our land tells it all,” he said.

Hearing of the case against the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano by the Kano State government was stalled yesterday at the Federal High Court, following the nationwide called by organised labour.

The case was to be mentioned for hearing at the Federal High Court before Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, but the court did not sit.

It was reported that the sitting would be virtual because of the sensitive nature of the case.

A Federal High Court in Kano had granted an ex parte order stopping Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf from reinstating Sanusi as emir after the old chieftaincy law was repealed by the House Assembly, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Read Also: Kano emirate crisis: Police in dilemma over five court orders – CP

The order also kicked against the abolishment of the four emirates: Bichi, Gaya, Karaye, and Rano and the sack of five emirs.

The court had directed all parties involved to maintain the status quo ante pending the determination of the suit which was filed by one of the kingmakers, Sarkin Dawaki Babba, and Aminu Babba-Dan Agundi.

Justice Liman granted leave to the plaintiff/applicant to issue and serve their concurrent originating motion as well as all other court processes on the sixth defendant (IGP) in FCT Abuja and outside the jurisdiction of the honourable court.

The defendants in the suit include: Kano State government; House of Assembly; House Speaker; Kano State Commissioner of Police; Inspector-General of Police (IGP); Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Security (DSS).