Kano, Nigeria – A significant ruling from the Kano State High Court on Monday has led to the deposing of Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero as the Emir of Kano. Presiding Justice Amina Aliyu also barred the deposed Emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye from continuing to parade themselves as emirs.
This decision follows a suit filed by the Kano State government against the five deposed emirs after the Kano State House of Assembly repealed the Kano Emirate Law 2019 on May 23, 2024. This law had created the five new emirates from the old Kano Emirate during the tenure of former Governor Umar Ganduje. The following day, Governor Abba Yusuf signed the Kano Emirate Law 2024, reinstating Muhammadu Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
In response to his deposition, Bayero had sought and obtained an ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Kano. This order restrained the governor and the police from removing him as the emir pending the resolution of his human rights application. Consequently, Bayero remained at the Nasarawa mini palace while Sanusi occupied the Gidan Rumfa palace.
Despite an order from the governor for the police to eject Bayero from the Nasarawa mini palace, the police adhered to the Federal High Court’s order, leaving Bayero in place. This led the Kano State government to seek a court order to restrain Bayero and the other deposed emirs from parading themselves as emirs and to vacate their respective palaces.
Justice Aliyu, in her ruling, restrained Bayero and the other dethroned emirs from continuing to present themselves as the Emirs of Kano, Bichi, Gaya, Rano, and Karaye. She upheld that the repeal of the Kano Emirate Council Law 2024 by the state House of Assembly was conducted lawfully under Section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The judge also affirmed that Governor Yusuf’s assent to the law was constitutional.
However, Justice Aliyu noted that the issue of evicting Bayero from the Nasarawa mini palace is a matter for a rent tribunal and was not within the scope of the case presented before her court. She directed Bayero and the other four deposed emirs to hand over all traditional royal artefacts to the government and the substantive Emir of Kano, Sanusi II, promptly.
