Emir Sanusi: Kano govt breaks silence on Appeal Court verdict

Kano State government has broken its silence on the recent Appeal Court verdict regarding the state’s emirship dispute.

According to Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, the state’s Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, the Appeal Court’s ruling does not invalidate the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th emir of Kano.

Dederi clarified that the Appeal Court’s decision on January 10, 2025, reaffirmed the state government’s power to reappoint Sanusi, and it’s impossible for the same court to set aside or quash its own decision.

He emphasised that only the Supreme Court has the power to override the Appeal Court’s decision.

“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. The 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.

The latest development comes after Alh. Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, a kingmaker loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, filed an application for a stay of execution, which was ruled in favor of maintaining the status quo until the Supreme Court’s judgment. Dederi reassured that the January 10 verdict remains standing and has not been quashed.