The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, has summoned the chief judges of the federal high court and the Kano State over conflicting orders issued by the courts in Kano on the emirate tussle in the city
The Director of Information of the National Judicial Council, Soji Oye, confirmed the invitation to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
Also, the Nigerian Bar Association demanded an investigation into the conflicting court orders on the Kano emirate throne tussle between the reinstated emir, Muhammadu Sanusi, and Ado Bayero, who was deposed by the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, last week.
The NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, called on the respective heads of the courts to investigate the judges’ conduct and report their findings to the NJC for necessary actions.
Worried by the tension created by the judicial rulings, the Kano State Government has banned protests and public gatherings related to the emirate tussle.
In the aftermath of the removal of Bayero and the four emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye, four contrary rulings had been handed down by three judges.
On the day of Sanusi’s reappointment, Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, restrained the Kano State Government from implementing the new emirate law.
Governor Yusuf, however, rejected the court order, arguing that the judge who issued it was in the United States at the time.
On Monday, Justice Amina Aliyu of the Kano State High Court issued an order restraining Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano pending the determination of a suit instituted by the Attorney General of Kano State, Speaker House of Assembly and Kano State House of Assembly.
The judge also restrained the four other dethroned emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye from parading themselves as emirs pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the applicants.
The judge gave the order after hearing an ex-parte application dated May 27, 2004, filed by Ibrahim Wangida, the counsel to the applicants.
Twenty-four hours later, Justice S. Amobeda of the Federal High Court and Justice Aliyu issued two contradictory orders on the same Kano emirate tussle.
Amobeda ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Hussain Gumel, to ensure that all rights and privileges of an Emir were given Bayero.
Furthermore, he ordered the eviction of the reinstated emir, Sanusi II, from the Gidan Rumfa palace.
Aliyu on the other hand restrained the police, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army from evicting Sanusi from the palace.
The judge barred the respondents from “attempting to hijack” the symbols of authority meant for the Emir of Kano pending the determination of the suit.
The judge gave the interim order in a case filed by Sanusi and four Kano kingmakers.
The respondents include the Kano CP, the IG, the director of DSS, the Chief of Defence Staff, and Bayero.
The Director of Information of the NJC, Soji Oye, on Wednesday in Abuja confirmed the invitation of the chief judges
Giving details of the invitation, a senior official, who spoke in confidence because he was not authorised to disclose the matter to the media, said, “It’s not going to be an immediate thing. It will take some time because there is a process to it. The Chief Justice cannot act alone or carry out disciplinary action on the judges all by himself. The council will set up a committee to investigate the judges. If found guilty, the committee will come up with sanctions to be meted out to them.’’
NBA demands probe
But in a statement on Wednesday, the NBA President, Maikyau, SAN, frowned on the embarrassing conduct by the counsel and judges involved in the cases.
He stressed the need for an urgent review of the actions of the judicial officials.
He said, “I must say, without any equivocation, that the conducts of counsel and the courts in the handling of the proceedings which culminated in the orders issued by the Federal High Court, the Kano State High Court and again the Federal High Court, in the circus, have brought utter disgrace and shame to the profession and have exposed the entire legal profession in Nigeria to public ridicule and opprobrium.
“The damage would take the legal profession a long time to recover from. It is unfortunate and was totally uncalled for. For a country whose legal resources and expertise have for several decades been exported and positively impacted not only the African continent but the world at large, it is completely unacceptable that the processes of our courts would be deployed in the manner we have witnessed in the last couple of days, on a subject matter that is as clear as chieftaincy dispute.
“This is a subject that has been sufficiently dealt with by legislation and case law, leaving no one confused about the jurisprudence on the subject procedural and substantive.’’
Continuing, he noted, “Without prejudice to the subsisting actions before both the Federal High Court and the Kano State High Court, it is my considered view that there is an urgent need to scrutinize the professional conduct of both counsel and the judges involved in these matters.
“This is to enable the relevant bodies or institutions to determine their culpability or otherwise, from an ethical and professional standpoint.
“I, therefore, call on the respective heads of the courts of the judges concerned, to take immediate steps to look into their conduct with the view to finding any possible abuse of their judicial offices and file a report with the National Judicial Council for necessary action.
“The NBA on the other hand will investigate the conduct of the counsel involved in these cases and shall not hesitate to commence disciplinary action against them before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, should there be any finding of alleged professional misconduct against them.
“The Chairman of the NBA Ethics and Disciplinary Committee has accordingly been directed to invite these counsel for preliminary investigations.
“While the NBA shall continue to stand for and protect the integrity, welfare, and independence of the Bar and the Judiciary, we shall not hesitate to call out any judge or counsel, who engages in any conduct capable of bringing the legal profession to disrepute.”
Meanwhile, the Kano State Government has banned all public gatherings or protests within the state.
The government warned that any individuals involved in any form of protests would be promptly apprehended.
This was contained in a statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Tofa, on Wednesday.
It read, “By virtue of his position, the governor has directed the police, the Director of State Security Services, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to apprehend, detain, and prosecute any individual or group partaking in demonstrations on the streets of Kano.
“This decisive action is a pre-emptive strategy aimed at averting any potential breakdown of law and order orchestrated by adversaries of the state.
“We are privy to credible intelligence indicating that certain prominent figures from the opposition party in Kano have devised plans to sponsor student associations and political agitators from other northwestern states to incite chaos under the guise of advocating for the dethroned Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero.”
“Through this declaration, we caution student groups against being manipulated by troublemakers who are resolute in fomenting disorder in Kano.”
The government urged all citizens of the state to go about their normal activities.
“The government will persist in vigilant oversight of the situation to promptly address any individuals or factions trying to undermine the relative peace that the state presently enjoys,” the statement added.
The police in the state confirmed that they will enforce the embargo on protests even as they threatened to prosecute any person found violating the directive.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna, explained in a statement that armed personnel had been deployed in all identified flashpoints within and outside the metropolis to forestall any breach of public order.
“In the same vein, the police command has placed its fully kitted, equipped and motivated personnel on red alert to ruthlessly deal with the situation as any form of security threats in the state would not be tolerated.
“On this note, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, Mohammed Gumel, calls on the law-abiding people of the state to remain patriotic, obey the Kano State Government order, maintain calmness and avoid any other form of unlawful activities that may trigger violence,” Haruna said in the statement.
He further disclosed that the joint security forces have been dispatched to strategic locations to safeguard the peace and order throughout the state.
In a new development, the people of Bichi, one of the five emirates dissolved by the new law promulgated by the Kano State House of Assembly, have vowed to resist the appointment of district heads by the state government.
They sued for the immediate reversal of the new emirate law.
Bichi emirate
The Secretary of the Bichi Emirate Development Association, Bello Bichi, made the stand of the people known at a press conference on Wednesday.
He said his people have vowed not to accept any arrangement other than the reversal of the new law.
Bichi said the creation of the five emirates by the former administration of Abdullahi Ganduje brought development to their area.
“Bichi Emirate has witnessed tremendous development in the areas of healthcare, education, economy, agriculture and road infrastructure.
“Since the establishment of Bichi Emirate, over 3,000 youths have been employed. We also have witnessed even development in different areas.
“We have seen development projects springing up in the emirate in the area of health, education, economy and road infrastructure. That is why we have vehemently rejected this law and will continue to fight it,” the secretary said.
He also listed some cultural developments that the emirate had recorded such as moon sightings and Sallah durbar.
“Before the establishment of the Bichi emirate, traditional title holders, Imams and Ulamas had to travel to Kano to give information on moon sightings.
“Also during Sallah, we had to transport our horses to Kano for Sallah durbar. But after the establishment of the emirate, everything had become closer to us. So, dissolving the emirate is something unacceptable to us,” he insisted.
He warned that the people of Bichi Emirate would resist any move by the state government to impose a second-class emir or a district head on the Bichi people.
He said the people in the 19 local government areas under the Bichi emirate have rejected the new law and would not obey it.
The Chairman of the association, Aminu Bichi, urged the relevant authorities to intervene and compel the Kano State House of Assembly to reverse the law.
Abdulrahman described the scrapping of the five emirates as unwise and selfish, calling on the state government to immediately reverse the law.
