The Kano State Government has dismissed reports suggesting that the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has nullified the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano.
Speaking to journalists in Kano on Saturday, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, clarified that the January 10, 2025 judgment delivered by the appellate court remains valid, affirming the state government’s authority to reinstate Sanusi II.
Dederi stressed that only the Supreme Court has the power to overturn the appellate court’s decision, explaining that the recent ruling merely granted a stay of execution, not a reversal of judgment.
The clarification follows the Court of Appeal’s ruling on Friday in response to a stay of execution application filed by Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, a kingmaker loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero. In its ruling, the court ordered that the status quo be maintained pending the Supreme Court’s final verdict.
Dederi, however, maintained that the Court of Appeal had not reversed its own judgment, but only placed a temporary hold on its enforcement.
“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing and subsisting. The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision; only the Supreme Court has the power to set it aside,” Dederi stated.
He further explained that the January 10 judgment by the appellate court had set aside an earlier decision by the Federal High Court, which nullified Sanusi II’s reinstatement. The Court of Appeal, according to Dederi, affirmed that the lower court lacked jurisdiction over the emirate matter.
