Court ruling does not affect Sanusi’s reinstatement – Kano govt

Kano State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, has clarified that the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal in Abuja does not nullify the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano.  

Dederi emphasized that the appellate court had already delivered a landmark judgment on January 10, 2025, affirming the Kano State government’s authority to reappoint Sanusi.

He asserted that it would be legally impossible for the court to overturn its own decision on the same matter.

His remarks came in response to the Court of Appeal’s ruling on a stay of execution application filed by Alhaji Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, a kingmaker loyal to the 15th Emir, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero.

The application seeks to delay the enforcement of Sanusi’s reinstatement until the Supreme Court delivers a final verdict.

According to Dederi, the matter is “functua officio”, adding that only the Supreme Court has the power to set aside the decision of the Appeal Court handed 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. 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.

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.

Dissatisfied with the verdict, DanAgundi had since proceeded to the Supreme Court to upturn the lower court’s verdict.

DanAgundi equally filed a motion for stay of execution of Justice Mustapha’s Judgment pending the hearing and determination of the Supreme Court judgment on the matter.