Sanusi secures victory as appeals court overturns Judge Liman verdict – News – The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

The Abuja Divisional Court of Appeal on Friday set aside the verdict of the Federal High Court, Kano Division, on the appointment of Emir Mohammadu Sanusi II. In the Kano State government’s appeal on the chieftaincy issue, the appeal court set aside the lower court’s decision questioning the appointment of Sanusi as the 16th emir.

In a ruling delivered by a three-member panel headed by Justice Mohammed Mustapha, the appeals court insisted that the Federal High Court exceeded its limit in ruling on a matter for which it lacks jurisdiction.

In a fundamental rights application filed before Justice Abdullahi Liman of the then Federal High Court in Kano, by Aminu Babba Dan’Agundi, a former council of the emirate under former Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, the lower court quashed the appointment of Sanusi by the government as first class emir.

But the appeals court overturned the ruling of Judge Liman, now promoted to the Court of Appeal, insisting that a Federal High Court has nothing to do with chieftaincy matters.

The appeal judge said the trial court lacked the power to order the maintenance of the status quo in a matter over which it has no jurisdiction and therefore set aside the controversial ruling that placed Kano with two ruling emirs.

In addition to assuming wrong jurisdiction, the Court of Appeal held that Justice Liman wrongly assumed the status of stock donor by wading into a chieftaincy issue, which was outside the fundamental rights sought by the plaintiff.

Aminu Babba Dan’Agundi had insisted that the dismissal of Bayero by the Kano State Government and the dissolution of the five emirates through the new Emirate Council Repeal Law of 2023 without due consultation had adversely affected his rights. fundamental.

The court further stated that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to intervene in matters relating to the Kano State Emirate Council law. He emphasized that the main reparations requested by Bayero were outside the scope of fundamental human rights and, in fact, related to chieftaincy issues.

Citing Article 251 of the Nigerian Constitution, the court noted that the Federal High Court has no authority to deal with matters relating to chieftaincy.

In a similar case, the appeal court set aside the judgment of Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of the state High Court and ordered the Chief Judge of Kano State to reassign the matter for further hearing.

The previous verdict handing down a perpetual ruling barring Aminu Ado Bayero from presenting himself as Emir was said to have been handed down without the fundamental principle of a fair trial.

Justice Aliyu of the Kano High Court ruled in favor of the Kano State House of Assembly which asked the court to validate the passage of the Kano Emirate Council Repeal Act that sacked Bayero and four others and confirmed the appointment of Sanusi as the sixteenth emir of Kano.

The Court of Appeal therefore ordered that the case be remanded to the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court for reassignment to another judge for expedited determination.