Court overturns the paramount monarch of Kaduna’s expulsion

On Thursday, a Kaduna State high court overturned former governor Nasir El-Rufai’s expulsion of Chief Jonathan Parguwa Zamuna, the paramount chief of Piriga Chiefdom in Lere Local Government Area.

The banning order violates section 41, subsection 1 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution (as amended), according to Justice Nasiru U. Sadiq of the Kaduna High Court, sitting in Kafanchan, in his ruling on the case of an infringement of fundamental rights.

According to the Constitution, every Nigerian citizen has the right to travel freely across the country and to live anywhere inside it. No Nigerian citizen may also be denied entry into or exit from the country, according to the judge.

According to OBASANJO NEWS24, the Court previously overturned a similar restriction of movement order against Brigadier General Iliya Yammah (Rtd), the deposed traditional ruler of the Arak Chiefdom in the Sanga Local Government Area.

In accordance with Section 11 of the Traditional Institutions Law No. 21 of 2021, which was signed in a statement by the then Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Hajiya Umma Ahmad, the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, announced the deposition of the two paramount rulers on May 22, 2023. El-Rufai stated that the depositions followed recommendations from the Ministry of Local Government Affairs.

Lead Counsel to Chief Zamuna, Barrister Napoleon O. Idenala, responded to the court decision by expressing satisfaction with the decision.

He bemoaned the extreme trauma that the ousted chief had endured since the decree was issued for his exile, claiming that the king had lost his wife, brother, and sister in the space of four months.