The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned a Kano State High Court injunction preventing Aminu Ado-Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano, from parading himself as such.
In its judgment on Friday, a three-member panel of justices led by Mohammed Mustapha ruled that the lower court’s decision, delivered on 15 July 2024, was flawed and violated the principles of fair hearing.
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The Court of Appeal found that the hearing notice for the proceedings leading to the judgement of the Kano State High Court was not served on Mr Ado-Bayero, preventing him from presenting his defence.
The disputed judgement of the Kano State High Court arose from a case initiated by the state government to implement the newly enacted Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024.
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This legislation consolidated the Kano Emirate Council into a single entity, repealing the 2019 law that had divided the council into the Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye emirate councils.
Implementing the new law, Governor Yusuf dethroned the emirs of the four emirates and Mr Ado-Bayero, who had ascended the throne as the 15th Emir of Kano following the dethronement of Lamido Sanusi in March 2020 by the then-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
In its ruling delivered on the case the case filed by the Kano State Government for the enforcement of the new law, the state High Court issued an interim injunction barring Mr Ado-Bayero and other dethroned emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye —from parading themselves as emirs.
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The lower court’s judge, Amina Aliyu, also ordered the dethroned emirs to return all movable and immovable properties belonging to the Kano State Government.
Appeal court’s decision
However, the Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that the failure to properly notify Mr Ado-Bayero of the hearing of the Kano State High Court amounted to a breach of his fundamental rights and rendered the entire proceedings null and void.
The judgement observed that Mr Ado-Bayero’s lawyer withdrew during the proceedings of the lower court on 4 July 2024. It noted that the lower court failed to notify Mr Ado-Bayero or allow adequate time for him to secure new representation before continuing the hearing.
It described the ruling of the lower court as a travesty of justice, adding that the breach of fair hearing fundamentally tainted the judicial process.
The appellate court also held that the lower court’s decision undermined the credibility of the judiciary, necessitating the intervention of higher judicial authorities.
The court upheld Mr Ado-Bayero’s appeal against the low court’s decision, holding that fair hearing supersedes all other considerations.
Therefore, it directed the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court to reassign the case to a different judge for fresh adjudication.
ALSO READ: Kano Emirship Tussle: Court restrains Ado-Bayero, four others from acting as emirs
Meanwhile, another judgement of the same panel of the Court of Appeal on Friday, overturned the decision of the Federal High Court in Kano which had nullified the reinstatement of Mr Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
The Court of Appeal’s decisions did little to resolve the case, which has been marked by a flurry of conflicting court decisions supporting opposing claims to the Kano emirate throne.
One judgement solidifies Mr Sanusi’s reinstatement as the 16th Emir of Kano. But the other, which orders a rehearing of the state government’s case filed for the enforcement of the new emirate council law, sustains Mr Ado-Bayero’s hopes for a favourable resolution that could ultimately affirm him as the legitimate Emir of Kano.
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