Kano – The Kano government has claimed that the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja nullifying the reinstatement of the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, did not mean that the traditional ruler was sacked.
Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, the state commissioner for justice and attorney general, claimed while addressing journalists on the ruling in Kano, noting that the verdict of the Court of Appeal on January 10, 2025, reaffirmed the state government’s authority to reinstate Sanusi.
Kano attorney general speaks on Sanusi’s reinstatement
The attorney general further explained that it was only the Supreme Court that has the constitutional authority to overturn the decision of the state government.
Isa Dederi’s remark came after the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the stay of execution application that was initiated by Aminu Baba DanAgundi, who was one of the kingmakers loyal to Aminu Ado-Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano, who was deposed before Sanusi’s reinstallment.
The court on Friday, March 14, ruled that the status quo should be maintained, adding that it should be done until the Supreme Court deliver its verdict.
However, Dederi claimed that the decision of the Court of Appeal did not overturn its judgment but merely ordered a hold on the implementation till the Supreme Court deliver its verdict.
Kano: Why court did not remove Sanusi
He further clarified that the January 10, 2025 ruling had set aside the verdict of the Federal High Court decision that nullified the reinstatement of Sanusi, and affirmed that the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the emirate matter.
His statement reads in part:
“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing and subsisting. The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision; only the Supreme Court has the power to set it aside.”
The Kano emirate has been in a leadership crisis since Bayero was removed and Sanusi was reinstated by the Kano state government. There have been injunctions and counter-injunctions from the Federal and State High Courts as well as the Court of Appeal. With the Court of Appeal ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court has the final say on the matter.
