The Sokoto State Government has said it never plotted to depose His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, as alleged by the Muslim Rights Council, MURIC.
The state Commissioner for Information and Societal Reorientation, Hon Sambo Bello Danchadi, while reacting to the allegation on Tuesday, said the state government has no plan whatsoever to dethrone the revered monarch, describing the allegation by MURIC as false and baseless.
According to the statement, “The state government wondered how a responsible body like MURIC, claiming to be protecting the rights of the Muslims would descend so low and cheaply as to join hands with deluded mischief makers and enemies of progress to fabricate such a false and unsubstantiated story just to create an unfriendly atmosphere and fear in the minds of the law-abiding and peaceful citizens of the state.
“We believe that MURIC is not the type that will be dancing to the tunes of enemies and mischief makers who are trying to take away the attention of the good people of Sokoto state and Nigerians on the transformative initiatives taking place in Sokoto State over the last one year.
“We also like to assure MURIC that the present administration, just like the previous administrations in the state, cherishes and respects the Sultanate Council long before MURIC was established.”
Sambo pointed out that the law guiding the appointment and disposition of traditional rulers in the state had not been changed or even repelled.
DAILY POST recalls that the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council MURIC, Prof. Isiaq Akintola, had on Monday, raised the alarm that, Sokoto state government was plotting to depose His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, against the backdrop of the happenings in Kano.
In a statement, the organisation cited the removal of 15 traditional rulers for various offences.
Akintola, in a statement, further warned that, Muslims Ummah in Nigeria would reject and resist any hostile actions against the Sultan, who happened to be the spiritual leader of all Muslims in Nigeria.
The Islamic organization, however expressed concern over the alleged sour relationship between the state government and the Sultan.
The organization said the pedestal of the Sultan of Sokoto was not only traditional but also religious, noting that the Sultan doubles as the head of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
The group warned the Sokoto governor not to “force Nigerian Muslims to take a drastically revolutionary measure.”
It said, “Feelers in circulation indicate that the governor may descend on the Sultan of Sokoto any moment from now using any of the flimsy excuses used to dethrone the 15 traditional rulers whom he removed earlier.
“MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional, it is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.
“Any governor who tampers with the stool of the Sultan will have Nigerian Muslims to reckon with because the Sultan combines the office of the Sultan of Sokoto and that of the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs,” MURIC said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kasheem Shettima in response to the alarm raised by MURIC on the alleged planned dethronement of the Sultan by Sokoto by the state government, said the Sultan is an institution that must be guarded and jealously protected by all Muslims.