The complaint of human rights violation filed by the deposed Kano Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, and a senior council member, Aminu Babba Dan Agundi, after Emir Mohammadu Sanusi II was reinstated, has been given jurisdiction by a Federal High Court located in Kano.
In order to prevent Kano Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf from reinstating Sanusi until the outcome of a substantive lawsuit filed against his restoration, the court granted an ex-parte injunction.
The ruling also objected to a law that had previously been approved by the State House of Assembly that would have abolished the emirates of Bichi, Gaya, Karaye, and Rano.
It ordered all concerned parties to preserve the status quo ante until the outcome of the lawsuit brought by Aminu Babba-Dan’Agundi and Sarkin Dawaki Babba was known.
The plaintiff/applicant was given permission by Justice Liman to file and serve their concurrent originating petition and to pursue all other court procedures against the sixth defendant, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, which is outside the court’s jurisdiction.
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The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Security, the Kano State Government, the Kano State House of Assembly, the Speaker of the State Assembly, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, and the Inspector General of Police are the additional defendants in the lawsuit.
According to Justice Liman, all parties must uphold the status quo ante during the bill’s passage and assent.
The status quo ante is hereby ordered to be maintained by the parties until the basic rights application is heard.
“Parties shall address the court on the same during the hearing of the basic rights application, which is scheduled for June 3, 2024, in light of the constitutional and jurisdictional issues obvious on the face of the case.
“That this Honourable Court grants an Interim Injunction prohibiting the Respondents from enforcing, executing, implementing, and operationalizing the Kano State Emirate Law Council (Repeal) Law in order to preserve the peace and security of the state.
“That parties are hereby ordered to preserve the status quo ante until the bill is passed and signed into law, while the application for fundamental rights is heard.”
On Thursday, the case was brought back before Justice Liman, who asserted that the court was entitled to hear it based on Section 42 Sub-section 1 of the Constitution.
“What intrigues me is the respondents’ complete dependence on the Gongola case, even though Section 42 Sub-section 1 of the Constitution expressly states the Federal High Court’s jurisdiction to hear cases of this nature,” the judge said.
“In my respectful opinion, there is no difference between this case and the Tukur v. Gongola case. The Constitution’s Section 32 and Subsection 42 grant our court the authority to make a decision in this case.
Barrister Chukwuson Ojukwu, the plaintiff’s attorney, continued the case by arguing that the key issues—namely, the validity of the reappointment of a new Emir and the deposition of the 15th Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero—were ready for hearing.
Barrister A. G. Wakil, however, argued that the new motion, which asks to continue hearing on Chieftaincy Affairs issues, was not included in the original summons and is a separate application that falls outside the court’s jurisdictional powers and the human rights violation case, which the court has already decided.
The judge gave an explanation, saying that the sole reason the case was postponed until Thursday, June 13, 2024, was to make a ruling.
After that, Justice Liman postponed the case until June 14, 2024, stating that it was too delicate to continue.
