A Federal High Court in Kano, on Thursday, nullified the reinstatement of Muhammad Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano, barely a month after he was restored to the throne by the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf.
The court also nullified all the actions taken after the controversial reinstatement.
However, the Kano State Government has vowed to appeal the judgment.
The Commissioner for Information, Baba Dantiye, confirmed that the government would appeal the judgment.
“Yes, it’s going to be appealed,” he said in a text message sent to one of one of our correspondents while responding to a question.
Handing down the judgment in a suit filed by a member of the former Kano Emirate, Aminu Babba Danagundi, who challenged the removal of the 15th Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, Justice Abdullahi Liman, said, “I hereby order that every step taken by the government is hereby nullified and becomes null and invalid and that this does not affect the validity of the repealed Emirates Law but actions taken by the governor which include the assenting to the law and the reappointment of Sanusi.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 the exercise of its powers, set aside the 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.”
He said the situation could have been averted if the respondents followed the due processes by complying with the court order, which would still have allowed them to carry out their objective.
Liman had on May 23 restrained the Kano State Government from implementing the new emirate law.
But the injunction was dismissed by the governor who claimed that the judge was in the United States when he issued the restraining order against the state government.
Judge slam govt
Referencing the refusal of the state government to obey his earlier order, Liman noted that the respondents chose to act according to their whims and caprices.
The situation, he said, had landed them in a serious mess.
The latest court order has further deepened the crisis in the state which has been on tenterhooks since Bayero was dethroned and replaced with Sanusi II on May 23, 2024.
But the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, in his interpretation of the judgment, at a press conference in Kano on Thursday, said the court reaffirmed Sanusi’s reappointment.
He said the state government welcomed the Federal High Court ruling regarding the Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law, 2024 and views the same as upholding the rule of law.
He called on the police to evict the deposed Emir Bayero from the Nasarawa palace. He said the palace would be demolished for reconstruction.
The commissioner stated, “The Kano State Government acknowledges the ruling by the Federal High Court regarding the Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law, 2024 and views the same as upholding the rule of law.
“By the ruling of the Court, it has unequivocally reaffirmed the validity of the law passed by Kano State House of Assembly and assented to by His Excellency the Executive Governor of Kano State on Thursday 23rd May 2024 by 5:10pm.
“This part of the judgement is very fundamental to the entire matter. A further implication of the ruling is that all actions done by the government before the emergence of the interim order of the honourable court, are equally validated. This means that the abolishing of the five emirates created in 2019 is validated and the deposition of the five emirs is also sustained by the Federal High Court.
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