The National Coalition of Northern Lawyers and Public Interest Activists (NCNLPIA) has welcomed the ruling of the Federal High Court in Kano annulling the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano.
The group said, “the judgment vindicates the popular stance on the illegality of the Kano State Government’s actions in dissolving the Kano Emirates and dethroning Emir Ado Bayero.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, convener of the Coalition, Barrister Napoleon Otache, commended the court for upholding the rule of law and protecting the sanctity of traditional institutions, adding that the ruling was a victory for justice, truth, and the people of Kano State.
The group, therefore, urged Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to apologise to the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, for the alleged humiliation and hardship inflicted upon him due to his purported dethronement and dissolution of the Kano Emirate Council.
Otache advised the governor to respect the court’s decision and work towards peace and reconciliation in Kano State.
“In nullifying the illegality embarked upon by the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf and his associates, the court has again proven that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.
“We have been reminded that might is not right and that the will of the people matters in addition to the demonstration that those who are in the right need not resort to violence to defend their rights.
“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.
“The ruling should be a wake-up call to the Kano State Government that it cannot introduce a state-level dictatorship as envisaged by the governor, one that sought to obliterate the Constitutionally guaranteed separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary.
“The judiciary has given the rude awakening that it is there to correct the conversion of the Kano State House of Assembly into the rubberstamp factory that churned out destructive legislations to satisfy Governor Yusuf’s whims.
“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 in accordance with 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 stated.