- Kano Govt Orders Demolition Of Ado Bayero’s Mini Palace
- Orders Police Commissioner To Remove Him From Palace
- Court Annuls Sanusi’s Reinstatement As Kano Emir
The ongoing Emirship tussle rocking the Kano Emirates has assumed a worrisome dimension if recent events are anything to go by.
The Kano State Government, late on Thursday ordered the demolition of the mini palace of the deposed 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado-Bayero.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi, said the demolition will allow for the renovation of the palace.
Addressing a press conference, Dederi said the government has “concluded arrangements for the general reconstruction and renovation of the property including the demolishing and reconstruction of the dilapidated wall fence with immediate effect.”
Dederi also disclosed that the Commissioner of Police has been asked to remove Bayero from the Nasarawa GRA mini palace where he resides.
This development comes a few hours after the Federal High Court ruled on its substantive suit validating the Kano Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024 but nullifying all actions of Governor Abba Yusuf following the passage of the law.
READ ALSO: Emirship Tussle: Sanusi, Bayero Hold Separate Prayers In Kano
Following Thursday’s Federal High Court’s ruling setting aside the steps taken in repealing the Kano Emirates Council Law, the state government has ordered deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero to vacate Nasarawa Mini Palace.
Dedire affirmed that the ruling of the Kano High Court validates the actions of the state government, noting that Emir Muhammad Sanusi remains the emir of the prestigious Kano Emirate.
He said by implication, Aminu Ado Bayero trespassed on the Nasarawa Mini Palace.
Earlier, Justice Abdullahi Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano set aside the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of the prestigious Kano Emirate.
Though the judge, on Thursday, refused the application to declare the amended Kano Emirate law null and void, he overturned all the actions taken by Governor Abba Yusuf after the controversial law was amended by the Kano State House of Assembly on May 23, 2024.
READ ALSO: Kano Emirship Tussle: APC Bombs Kwankwaso
Justice Liman faulted the governor’s assent to the bill and the presentation of an appointment letter to Emir Sanusi on May 24, 2024 despite an order of court directing all parties to maintain status quo.
The judge said he listened to the statement of governor in the media after assenting to the law, and he was convinced that the respondents (the governor and Kano State House of Assembly) were aware of the order of maintaining status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motions on notice in the court.
Justice Liman said the mess in the state could have been prevented if the respondents complied with the court order, which would still have allowed them to carry out their assignments.
Two royal families have been in a supremacy battle in the ancient city: the Bayero and the Sanusi families. Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II beat Aminu Ado Bayero to succeed the latter’s father, Emir Ado Bayero, in 2014.
Three months shy of six years later, he would be deposed for his predecessor’s son, Aminu Ado Bayero, amid a fallout with the state governor at the time, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Four years and a change of administration later, Governor Yusuf re-appointed Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as Kano Emir after the state Assembly amended a controversial law that broke the emirate into five.
While Emir Sanusi resided in the main palace in Kano, Bayero resided in the mini palace in Nasarawa. During the just concluded Eid-El-Kabir celebration both Emirs led prayers at their different palaces.
However, a kingmaker in one of the former emirates, Aminu Babba Danagundi, challenged the propriety of the law and asked the court to declare the repealed law null and void.
