The Federal High Court complex on Court Road in Kano is currently hosting the legal proceedings regarding the dispute over the Kano Emirates. High levels of security have been deployed in and around the premises.
According to reports from Punch Online, the recent nationwide strike concerning the new minimum wage impacted the scheduling of the hearing for the restraining order against the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir by the Kano government last week. Consequently, the hearing was postponed to today.
It is worth noting that a Federal High Court in Kano previously issued an order prohibiting the Kano State Government from implementing the Kano State Emirate Council Repeal Law.
The order was granted by Justice Mohammed Liman in response to an application by Aminu Babba Dan Agundi, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba of the Kano Emirate.
During Thursday’s proceedings, officers from the Nigeria Police Force and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) strategically positioned their vehicles around the court to prevent any potential disorder and control movement.
Currently, cars, vehicles, and motorcycles are being redirected from Court Road to Zoo Road and the Gyadi-Gyadi area of the town until the conclusion of the case.
The state encountered turmoil two weeks ago when Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf deposed Bayero as the Emir of Kano, alongside four other first-class Emirs from Rano, Bichi, Karaye, and Gaya.
Sanusi was subsequently reinstated as the Emir after the repeal of the law that former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had used to depose and exile him in 2020.
In 2020, Sanusi, the former 14th Emir of Kano, was dethroned for allegedly defying the Abdullahi Ganduje-led government, leading to Bayero being appointed as his successor.
The ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was then banished to Awe, a farming community in Nasarawa State, under Ganduje’s orders.
With the intention to reinstate Sanusi, the state House of Assembly, under the control of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, passed the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024, which superseded the Kano State Emirates Council Law of 2019.
The legislation dissolved all five emirate councils in the state – Bichi, Karaye, Gaya, Rano; as well as Kano, which were established during Ganduje’s tenure.