Court sacks emirs installed by Ganduje

A Kano state high court has sacked four emirs appointed by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of the state.

Usman Na’Abba, the presiding judge, gave the order on Thursday.

Na’Abba held that the creation of the emirates did not follow due process.

He said the state house of assembly violated the provision of section 101 of the 1999 constitution which allows the assembly to make laws.

He then declared the creation null and void.

In may, the governor created four additional emirates in Kano — Bichi, Rano, Karaye and Gaya — in a bid to whittle down the influence of Muhammad Sanusi II, emir of Kano, though he said the move was for administrative convenience.

He said the challenges of the Kano emirate are “too weighty” and that the new ones will bring development closer to citizens.

The creation of the new emirates was said to have been targeted at Sanusi who reportedly worked against his reelection.

To challenge the action, four Kano kingmakers filed a suit against the governor and state government.

The kingmakers who took the legal action are Madakin Kano, district head of Dawakintofa; Yusuf Nabahani, district head of Wudil; Abdullahi Sarki-Ibrahim, district head of Gabasawa; and Bello Abubakar, district head of Dambatta, Mukhtar Adnan.

Earlier, Rabiu Gwarzo, a member of the state assembly, also filed a suit challenging the creation of the new emirates.