Emirate imbroglio: Sanusi remains Emir, court didn’t void his reinstatement – Kano govt

• The appellate court ruled that the enforcement or otherwise of its January 10 judgment would have to wait until the Supreme Court’s determination of an appeal on the same matter

The Kano State government has clarified the Friday judgement of the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on the State Emirship tussle in the State.

Recall that the appellate court granted a stay of execution of its judgment upholding the abrogation of the 2019 Emirates Council Law by the Kano State government and order parties involved in the case to maintain status quo.

The appellate court ruled that the enforcement or otherwise of its January 10 judgment would have to wait until the Supreme Court’s determination of an appeal on the same matter.

The ruling was consequent upon the application for stay of execution filed by Alh. Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, one of the kingmakers loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, pending determination of the appeal at the apex court.

Reacting to the development, the state government said the ruling did not in anyway void the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th emir of Kano.

Kano State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi made the clarification while addressing newsmen on the matter on Friday.

Dederi declared that, “having passed a landmark verdict on January 10, 2025, that reaffirmed the power of the Kano State government to reappoint Sanusi, it is impossible for the Court of Appeal to set aside or quash it’s own decision on the same matter.”

According to Dederi, the matter is “functua officio”, adding that only the Supreme Court has the power to set aside the decision of the Appeal Court handed by Justice Mohammad Mustapha on January 10, 2025.

“The Appeal Court today, after hearing their application for a stay of execution, ruled that the status quo should rather be maintained as it is now, until after the judgment of the Supreme Court. The have filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.

“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing and still in place and subsisting. The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision. It is not possible. It is only a supreme Court that has the power to set aside the judgment given by a lower court,” Dederi noted.