A combo of Emir Muhamnmadu Sanusi II (left) and Emir Ado Bayero | File Image
The judge faulted Governor Abba Yusuf’s appointment letter to Emir Muhammad Sanusi despite an order of court directing all parties to maintain status quo.
By Idris Umar
Kano’s royal rumble continued on Thursday June 20, 2024, with Justice Abdullahi Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, setting aside the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of the Kano Emirate.
Though the judge refused the application to declare the amended Kano Emirate law null and void, he overturned all the actions taken by Governor Abba Yusuf after the controversial law was amended by the Kano State House of Assembly on May 23, 2024.
Justice Liman faulted the governor’s assent to the bill and the presentation of an appointment letter to Emir Sanusi on May 24, 2024 despite an order of court directing all parties to maintain status quo.
The judge said that he listened to the statement of the governor in the media after assenting to the law, and he was convinced that the respondents (the governor and Kano State House of Assembly) were aware of the order of maintaining status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motions on notice in the court.
Also read: Kano Royal Rumble: Court to decide on jurisdiction June 13
Justice Liman said that the mess in the state could have been presented if the respondents complied with the court order, which would still have allowed them to carry out their assignments.
The politics of the Emirate of Kano has thrown up some controversial twists and turns in the last 10 years.
Two royal families have been in a supremacy battle in the ancient city: the Bayero and the Sanusi families.
Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II beat Aminu Ado Bayero to succeed the latter’s father, Emir Ado Bayero, in 2014.
Three months shy of six years later, he would be deposed for his predecessor’s son, Aminu Ado Bayero, amid a fallout with the state governor at the time, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Four years and a change of administration later, Governor Yusuf re-appointed Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as Kano Emir after the state Assembly amended a controversial law that broke the emirate into five.
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