A Federal High Court this Friday in Kano ordered the stay of enthronement of the deposed Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi back to the throne as the Emir of Kano.
The order came on the application of one Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan Agundi, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba of Kano Emirate. He pleaded the court to halt the enforcement of a new law that dissolved all five emirates in Kano State and consolidated them back to one.
The Kano State House of Assembly on Thursday repealed the Kano State Emirs (Appointment and Deposition) Law. The law established the Rano, Karaye, Gaya, and Bichi Emirates in addition to Kano in 2019.
After the repeal and consolidation of all five Emirates to the Emirate of Kano, Governor Abba Yusuf quickly reappointed former Emir Sanusi Lamido, deposed in 2020 as the substantive Emir of Kano. It effectively deposed all the other five erstwhile Emirs. The government gave the old Emirs a 48-hour ultimatum to vacate their official residences and palaces. It directed them to hand over all affairs to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
In the lawsuit brought by Dan Agundi, the plaintiff dragged the Kano State Government, the House of Assembly, the Speaker, the Attorney-General, the Commissioner of Police, the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the State Security Service, to the court as respondents. He is contesting the legality of the new law being implemented.
Judge Orders Stay Of Status
Agreeing with the plaintiff, Justice Mohammed Liman granted his prayers. He issued an order telling all parties concerned “to maintain status quo ante the passage and assent of the bill into law pending the hearing of the fundamental rights application.”
For the avoidance of doubt, the judge declared that he is issuing “an interim injunction…restraining the CP, IGP, NSCDC, and DSS from enforcing, executing, implementing, and operationalising the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law.”
The judge said he could see “constitutional and jurisdictional issues” and other “Fundamental Rights” questions in the application before him.
All parties to appear in court before him on the June 3, 2024.
The judicial intervention this morning put the brake on a fast-moving series of actions to reinstall the deposed Emir. It nipped the budding celebrations that were beginning to emerge in Kano city and around the state.
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