The National Coalition of Northern Lawyers and Public Interest Activists (NCNLPIA) has welcomed the Federal High Court ruling annulling the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano.
DAILY POST recalls that Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Thursday set aside the Kano Emirate Council (Amendment No. 2) Law, 2024, which scrapped four of the state’s five emirate councils.
The state governor, Abba Yusuf, had, while signing the bill into law, removed all the five emirs, including Aminu Ado-Bayero of Kano and reinstated Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
The development generated controversy with both Bayero and Sanusi claiming the throne.
But ruling on the matter on Thursday, Justice Liman ordered that “every step taken by the Government are hereby nullified and becomes null and invalid“.
Reacting to the ruling, the group of lawyers and activists claimed that the judgment vindicated the popular stance on the alleged illegality of the action taken by the Kano State Government.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the convener of the group, Barrister Napoleon Otache urged Governor Yusuf to respect the court’s decision and work towards peace and reconciliation in Kano State.
“The court’s ruling has demonstrated that the rule of law must be obeyed since the defect that led to the nullification of the re-appointment of the 16th Emir resulted from the governor rushing to implement a law that the court had ruled to be placed on hold.
“We consequently call on the Kano State Government not to waste the taxpayers’ resources on frivolous appeals but to continue to work with Emir Ado Bayero as the duly recognized Emir of Kano Emirate Council with his full official paraphernalia of office in the interest of peace and by the order of the court.
“We make this call knowing that all other pending legal challenges on the matter would naturally align with the Federal High Court ruling,” he said.
Kano Emirate tussle: Coalition of Northern Lawyers, activists welcome court ruling
