Court okays Kano emirate law repeal, sacks Bayero, others
On Monday, a Kano State High Court led by Justice Amina Aliyu permanently barred Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero from claiming to be the Emir of Kano.
The deposed emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye were likewise forbidden by the court from acting in regalia.
The Kano State government sued the five deposed emirs, and the judge made a decision in that case.
The lawsuit was filed after the Kano State House of Assembly repealed the Kano Emirate Law 2019 on May 23, 2024, dissolving the five emirates that former governor Umar Ganduje had established from the former Kano Emirate.
Muhammadu Sanusi, the 14th Emir of Kano, was elevated to the 16th Emir position with the signing of the Kano Emirate Law 2024 by Governor Abba Yusuf on May 24, 2024.
Unsatisfied with the decree that removed him from his position as emir, Bayero went to the Federal High Court in Kano and was granted an ex parte injunction that prevented the governor and police from dismissing him from his position as emir until his human rights case was resolved.
After the ex parte was granted, Sanusi took up residence at the Gidan Rumfa palace in Kano, while Bayero stayed at the Nasarawa small palace.
The police believed they had to implement the Federal High Court's judgement, therefore they disregarded the governor's order to remove the ousted emir from the Nasarawa tiny palace.
The government then requested an order from the court compelling Bayero and the other deposed emirs to leave the palaces in their different emirates in order to prevent them from acting in a state of self-aggrandizement.
Justice Aliyu halted Bayero and the other four deposed emirs from presenting themselves as the emirs of Kano, Bichi, Gaya, Rano, and Karaye when he delivered the ruling on Monday.
She maintained that the state House of Assembly implemented the Kano Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024 in compliance with the law and as specified in Section 4 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution.
Additionally, the judge decided that Yusuf complied with the Federal Republic of Nigeria's Constitution when he gave his consent to the law.
However, Justice Aliyu stated that the matter of Bayero's eviction from the Nasarawa tiny palace was not brought before the court and instead belonged to the rent tribunal.
She gave Bayero and the other four emirs orders to promptly turn over to the government and Kano's legitimate emir, Sanusi II, all traditional royal treasures belonging to the Emirate.
