The Kano Division of the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Friday vacated a Federal High Court judgment that nullified the reappointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
A three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Mustapha, ruled that Justice Abubakar Liman of the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to invalidate the Kano State Emirates Council (Repeal) Law 2024, which facilitated Sanusi’s reappointment.
The court held that the enforcement of fundamental rights, as cited in the original suit filed by Aminu Babba Dan Agundi, an aggrieved kingmaker, was an improper legal pathway to challenge the state government’s actions.
The Kano State House of Assembly, on May 23, 2024, enacted the Kano State Emirates Council (Repeal) Law 2024. Governor Abba Yusuf subsequently signed the law, which deposed Aminu Ado Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano, and reinstated Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was deposed in 2020 by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
Also, the law downgraded the emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye emirates to district heads, effectively collapsing their emirates into the Kano Emirate.
However, Agundi, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba and a kingmaker under the previous system, filed a fundamental rights suit to challenge the reappointment of Sanusi and the dissolution of the additional emirates. Justice Liman of the Federal High Court ruled in his favor, declaring Governor Yusuf’s actions null and void.
The appellate court overturned Justice Liman’s ruling, stating that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate on a matter rooted in chieftaincy disputes, which should have been pursued through a civil action.
The panel further held that because the original suit was improperly initiated, the Federal High Court was bereft of jurisdiction to entertain it, warranting the matter’s dismissal.
Read also: Tight security at mini palace as police chase hunters guarding Sanusi
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in a dissenting opinion, agreed that Justice Liman lacked jurisdiction but recommended transferring the case to the Kano State High Court for reassignment rather than outright dismissal.
In a separate judgment, the appellate court directed a fresh hearing of a suit filed by the deposed 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, challenging his removal by Governor Yusuf.
The court found that Bayero had been denied fair hearing, as the Kano State High Court proceeded with his case without serving him a hearing notice.
Justice Mustapha, delivering the lead judgment, described the proceedings against Bayero as a “travesty of justice” and ordered that the case be reassigned to another judge for expeditious resolution.
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