Presiding Justice Mustapha Mohammed and another Justice concurred with Justice Kolawole on the jurisdiction issue, asserting that the Federal High Court should not interfere in Kano chieftaincy matters.
The Federal High Court in Kano has been barred from hearing the Kano Emirate legal dispute following a split decision by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who delivered the lead judgment, said the Federal High Court has no business adjudicating over the chieftaincy matters, and ordered that the matter be returned to the Kano state high court, being the proper court for such matters.
Presiding Justice Mustapha Mohammed and another Justice concurred with Justice Kolawole on the jurisdiction issue, asserting that the Federal High Court should not interfere in Kano chieftaincy matters.
However, the two Justices disagreed with Justice Kolawole's directive for the case's remittance.
They argued that the proper order to be made was to strike out the case.
Consequently, the two Justices struck out the proceedings of the Federal High Court, citing its lack of jurisdiction to handle the matter.
Former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II was reinstated as the Emir of Kano by Governor Abba Yusuf in May 2024.
Sanusi’s reinstatement followed the passage of a new law by the State House of Assembly which abolished four emirates created in addition to the Emir of Kano. The emirates were created under a controversial law in 2019 by the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
SaharaReporters had reported how the State Assembly passed a bill dissolving the establishment of the additional emirates.
The bill is titled, ‘The Kano State Emirates Councils (Repeal) Bill, 2024.’
The new law abrogated the creation of the emirates created in 2019 and the restoration of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano Emirate.
The law was first amended in 2019 amid a rift between then-Governor Ganduje and Sanusi.
The first amendment broke the Kano Emirate into five with the creation of Rano, Karaye, Gaya and Bichi emirates, and the appointment of first-class emirs for the new emirates, eventually culminating in the deposition of the then-Emir of Kano.
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