The Court of Appeal in Abuja has temporarily halted the reinstatement of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano.
A three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Okon Abang, unanimously suspended the implementation of the January 10 ruling, which had vacated the annulment of Sanusi II’s appointment by the Kano State High Court. The lower court had previously ruled that the nullification was made without jurisdiction.
In the January 10 judgment, Justice Gabriel Kolawole had stated that the Kano State High Court lacked the necessary jurisdiction to nullify Sanusi II’s appointment. The judgment also ordered that the case be transferred to the Kano State High Court for proper adjudication.
However, in a ruling on two fresh applications (CA/KN/27M/2025 and CA/KN/28M/2025), the Court of Appeal found the applications seeking to suspend the earlier judgment pending appeal before the Supreme Court to be both competent and meritorious.
“The law is settled. The court must exercise its discretion judiciously, always in the interest of justice,” Justice Abang remarked in his ruling.
He also emphasized the need to preserve the subject matter, noting that Sanusi II had served as Emir for five years before his removal and thus deserved legal protection during the proceedings.
The January 10 ruling by Justice Kolawole had vacated the Federal High Court’s decision that initially annulled the Kano State Government’s Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law of 2024, which had reinstated Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano. Justice Kolawole described the earlier ruling as a “grave error” since chieftaincy disputes should be heard by the Kano State High Court, not the Federal High Court.
The legal conflict began when the Federal High Court in Kano, presided over by Justice Abubakar Liman, had nullified the Kano State Government’s law and directed that the status quo be maintained during the reign of Emir Ado Bayero.
The Court of Appeal, citing Section 251 of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act, determined that the case involved a chieftaincy and state legislative dispute, not a matter of fundamental rights. As such, it should have been filed in the Kano State High Court or the FCT High Court.
The Court of Appeal further ruled that the proper course of action was for the presiding judge to order the transfer of the case from the Federal High Court to the Kano State High Court, where it would be assigned to a judge who had not previously been involved in the matter.
The court also imposed a cost of N500,000 against Aminu Baba-Dan’Agundi, the plaintiff, and in favor of the Kano State House of Assembly.
However, dissenting opinions from Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Abdul Dogo favored striking out Dan’Agundi’s suit rather than transferring it. As a result, the court ultimately struck out the case.
The case stems from several appeals related to the same legal issue, including CA/KN/126/2024, CA/ABJ/140/2023, CA/ABJ/142/2024, CA/KN/200/2024, and CA/KN/161/2020, which involve parties such as the Kano State Assembly, the Kano State Government, and Baba-Dan’Agundi.
