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Dethroned Emir Sanusi Heads To Court Over Dethronement
Dethroned Emir Sanusi says he is heading to court over his dethronement as the Emir of Kano in northern Nigeria.
NewsOne Nigeria had reported earlier that the Kano State government on Monday, March 9, dethroned Emir Muhammad Sanusi II. Emir Sanusi’s dethronement followed the Kano State Council Executive meeting presided over by the Governor Ganduje on Monday, March 9.
A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, said Emir Sanusi’s dethronement was due to his “total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the governor and other lawful authorities.
“The Kano State Executive Council under the chairmanship of His Excellency, the governor of Kano, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje has unanimously approved the immediate removal/dethronement of the Emir of Kano Emirate, Muhammad Sanusi II,” the statement said.
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“The Emir of Kano is in total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend officials meetings and programmes organised by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination.
“It is on record and in so many instances Malam Muhammad Sanusi II has been found breaching part 3, section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and which if left unchecked will destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate.
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“This removal is made after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders and in compliance with part 3, section 13 of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and other reasons stated above.
“The removal was reached in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate built over a thousand years.
“His Excellency, Dr Ganduje calls on the general public to remain calm, law-abiding and to go about their normal businesses. While a new Emir of Kano will soon be appointed,” the statement added.
Reacting to his removal as the Emir of Kano through Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), his lawyer, Sanusi vowed to challenge his dethronement and banishment in court.
The lawyer of the dethroned Emir Sanusi who declared this in a briefing a few minutes ago in Abuja, the nation’s capital, said the restriction of Sanusi’s movement and his dethronement were unlawful and gross violation of his human rights.
“We are going to be in touch with him to discuss which line of action to take as his lawyers. And we as lawyers, of course, we believe that this action was illegal and unconstitutional,” he said.
“And more so, the aspect of banishment, under the constitution, nobody can be deprived of his liberty under the manner he has been deprived of his. Nevertheless, we will be in touch with him and hopefully, come up with the next line of action in due course.
“The next line of action would obviously depend on the instruction from the Emir. There are two aspects to it – the dethronement and the banishment. We will be consulting with him, I had a meeting with him before he was taken to custody and obviously, at that point, he has not taken a decision on whether he is going to pursue this matter in court or not.
“Of course, we will give him time to come up with a decision on his dethronement. But as far as his liberty is concerned, we are very firmly clear that this is an illegal act and we will be considering what line of action to take hopefully by tomorrow (Tuesday) when I speak with him.
“An action that is illegal can be reversed by the court of law and that is why we have the written constitution and courts in place. Under the constitution of the country, whenever the executive branch of government takes an action that is unconstitutional or illegal, the courts are there for all citizens to seek redress.
“We are confident given the fact of this case that if the Emir was to challenge the action, it would be reversed because the action, in our view, is repressing and illegal,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria added.
