Court okays Kano emirate law repeal, restrained Bayero from parading himself as the Emir
16th July 2024
Tukur Muntari and Ted Odogwu
A Kano State High Court presided over by Justice Amina Aliyu, on Monday, perpetually restrained Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano.
The court also barred the deposed Emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye from parading themselves as emirs.
The judge ruled in a suit filed against the five deposed emirs by the Kano State government.
The suit followed the repeal of the Kano Emirate Law 2019 on May 23, 2024, by the Kano State House of Assembly, abolishing the five emirates created from the old Kano Emirate by ex-Governor Umar Ganduje.
On May 24, 2024, Governor Abba Yusuf signed the Kano Emirate Law 2024 and reinstated the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, as the 16th Emir.
Not satisfied with the order deposing him as Emir, Bayero approached the Federal High Court, Kano and obtained an ex parte order, restraining the governor and the police from sacking him as the emir, pending the determination of his human rights application.
With the granting of the ex parte, Bayero remained at the Nasarawa mini palace, while Sanusi occupied the Gidan Rumfa palace in Kano.
The order by the governor for the police to eject the deposed emir from the Nasarawa mini palace was not obeyed as the police insisted it was bound to follow the Federal High Court order.
The government then approached the court to restrain Bayero and other deposed emirs from parading themselves as emirs and sought an order asking them to vacate palaces in their respective emirates.
Delivering the judgment on Monday, Justice Aliyu restrained Bayero and four other dethroned emirs from parading themselves as Emirs of Kano, Bichi, Gaya, Rano, Karaye.
She held that the Kano Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024 was carried out by the state House of Assembly according to the law and as enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The judge also ruled that Yusuf assenting to the law was done according to the dictates of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Justice Aliyu, however, said the issue of evicting Bayero from the Nasarawa mini palace was a rent tribunal issue not presented before the court.
She directed Bayero and four other emirs to quickly hand over all the Emirate traditional royal artefacts to the government and the substantive Emir of Kano, Sanusi II.
