The Court of Appeal in Abuja has suspended the reinstatement of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano.
A three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Okon Abang, unanimously ruled on Friday to halt the implementation of a previous judgment that had overturned the nullification of Sanusi II’s appointment.
The earlier judgment, delivered by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, had declared the nullification of Sanusi II’s appointment by a Kano State High Court as being without jurisdiction and ordered the case to be transferred to the Kano State High Court.
However, the appellate court, in ruling on fresh applications, agreed that the applications seeking to halt the enforcement of the earlier judgment pending an appeal to the Supreme Court were “competent and meritorious.”
“The law is settled. The court is enjoined to exercise its discretion judiciously and in the interest of justice,” Justice Abang stated. He also emphasized the need to preserve the subject matter of the case, given that the applicant had served as emir for five years before his removal.
The initial ruling, on January 10th, had stated that the matter, being a chieftaincy dispute, should have been handled by the Kano State High Court, not the Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court in Kano had previously nullified the Kano State Government’s Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law 2024, which reinstated Sanusi II, and directed parties to maintain the status quo during the reign of Emir Ado Bayero.
The Court of Appeal, in its latest ruling, stated that the matter was a chieftaincy and state legislative dispute, not a fundamental rights matter, and therefore should have been taken before the Kano State High Court or the FCT High Court.
The court struck out the suit filed at the Federal High Court. Five appeals related to the same issue were addressed in the ruling.
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