Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, the Kano State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, has clarified that Muhammadu Sanusi II’s restoration as the 16th emir of Kano was not in any way invalidated by the Court of Appeal’s Abuja division’s decision regarding the State Emirship issue.
Dederi declared that “having passed a landmark verdict on January 10, 2025, that reaffirmed the power of the Kano State government to reappoint Sanusi, the Court of Appeal can’t set aside or quash its own decision on the same matter.”
When responding to the Appellate Court’s decision on Friday regarding the stay of execution application filed by Alh. Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, one of the kingmakers loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, pending the outcome of the appeal at the highest court, the Attorney General informed journalists of his stance, stating that the matter is “functua officio” and that only the Supreme Court has the authority to overturn the Appeal Court’s ruling, which was handed down by Justice Mohammad Mustapha on January 10, 2025.
“The Appeal Court today, after hearing their application for a stay of execution, ruled that the status quo should rather be maintained as it is now, until after the judgment of the Supreme Court. They have filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.
“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing and still in place and subsisting. The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision. It is not possible. It is only a supreme Court that has the power to set aside the judgment given by a lower court,” Dederi noted.
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It would be recalled that on January 10, 2025, a three-member panel of Court of Appeal, Abuja division, led by Justice Mohammad Mustapha set aside the judgment of Justice A. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, which nullified the steps/actions taken by the Kano State Government pursuant to the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024, including the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
Dan Agundi was displeased with the decision and went to the Supreme Court to have the lower court’s decision overturned.
In addition, DanAgundi filed a move to halt the execution of Justice Mustapha’s judgment until the Supreme Court’s ruling on the subject was heard and decided.
