Emirate Tussle: Kano Govt, Lawyer Disagree Over Court Ruling

The Kano State government and a legal practitioner, Abba Hakeem, have disagreed on the Federal High Court Thursday’s ruling regarding the claim to the Kano royal stool by Muhammadu Sanusi and Aminu Ado Bayero.

LagosTimes Nigeria reported that Justice Abdullahi Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, overturned all the actions taken by Governor Abba Yusuf after the State House of Assembly amended the Kano Emirate law on May 23, 2024.

Reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abba Yusuf, Sani Bature, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, alongside Hakeem, argued that the ruling was in their favour for several reasons and it affirmed the dissolution of the five emirates created in 2019.

Bature said, “People need to understand that yesterday’s judgment is in our favour because of several reasons. One, the judgment accepted the validity of the repealed law 2024, which invalidates the five emirates and also deposed the five Emirs in Kano.

“So, therefore, at the moment and based on yesterday’s judgment, Aminu Ado Bayero and the other four Emirs were officially deposed and they should remain deposed until the determination of the appeal that was filed by us.”

However, Hakeem countered the Governor’s CP, stating that the court set aside repeal of the law setting up the five emirates.

He said, “The ruling of the Federal High Court yesterday was very clear. In fact the certified true copy of that ruling is currently going round on social media and it is clear that the first order given by that court is that all actions taken portion to the 2024 Kano State repealed law are set aside.

“The second order was that that does not affect the validity or invalidity of the law because it is a subject of a substantive suit which is still pending before the court.”