Supporters of Aminu Ado Bayero, the deposed Emir of Kano, on Sunday, staged a protest in the city, demanding that Governor Abba Yusuf abide by a recent court ruling and demanding Bayero’s reinstatement.

The people of Kano welcomed the reinstated Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, with open arms as he left the city’s main palace.

However, the situation in the city remained unstable.

Riding a royal horse, Sanusi made gestures towards the audience, to which they replied, “You’re the only Emir we know.”

He also met with some district heads, council members, vigilantes, women groups and well-wishers who were at the palace to pay homage.

The development happened as a large group of young protesters marched through the streets of Kano and Gaya, expressing their discontent with the deposition of Bayero.

The demonstrators, carrying placards with messages such as “Abba Kabir Yusuf, Obey Court Order” and “Aminu is still our Emir,” lit bonfires and sang anti-government slogans.

However, the protest remained peaceful, with police officers refraining from dispersing the crowd.

The protesters had gathered after a special prayer session and continued their demonstration along major roads, including the road near the government house.

The protests were sparked by the repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law by the Kano State House of Assembly last Thursday.

The law, initially enacted in 2019, divided the Kano Emirate into five jurisdictions and led to the dethronement of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Governor Yusuf signed the new law on Thursday, dissolving the additional emirates of Rano, Gaya, Karaye, and Bichi, and restoring the traditional Kano Emirate.

Following the repeal, the governor directed the monarchs of the dissolved emirates to hand over to the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo, who oversees the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

It was reported that other dethroned Emirs – Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero (Bichi), Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Inuwa (Rano), Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar II (Karaye), and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir (Gaya), complied with the directive.

They were also said to have vacated their palaces at midnight on Thursday.

However, Bayero who was not around during the incident, returned to the city on Saturday and moved into a palace in the Nassarawa area of the state.

A retinue of soldiers rode with him from the airport to the palace.

On Friday, it was reported that Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court granted an order filed by the Sarkin Dawaki Babba of the Kano Emirate, Aminu Agundi, stopping the Kano State Government from enforcing the Kano State Emirate Council Repeal Law which dethroned the five emirs in the state.

But the state government ignored the order and went ahead with Sanusi’s reinstatement even as the governor threatened to report the judge to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum for granting the order. He claimed that the judge granted the order while he was in the United States.

Miffed by Bayero’s return to the mini-palace in Nassarawa, the governor ordered the arrest of the deposed monarch but the police authorities said they would enforce the court order.

One of the protesters around Gidan Nassarawa in Kano, Mohammed Idiris, told journalists that all they demanded was the immediate return of Bayero to his throne.

“We are in support of the return of Aminu Ado Bayero back to his seat. We don’t know any other person. He is the man of the people. And that is why we are calling for him to be returned to his seat with immediate effect,’’ he stated.

Also, residents of Gaya on Sunday protested the decision of the state government to dissolve the Gaya Emirate.

The protesters condemned the action of the government and the state House of Assembly.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, chanting anti-government songs, and alleged injustice, saying the dissolution of the emirate had political undertones.

However, a non-governmental organisation, Arewa Social Contract Initiatives, advised the Bayero to vacate the ancient city in the spirit of peace and stability.

The group, which summoned an emergency meeting of its members in the 19 northern states, said the sudden return of the dethroned emir ‘’was cooked to ignite serious civil unrest in the city.’’

• Group Faults Bayero

The National Chairman of the group, Sani Darma, in a communiqué after the meeting on Sunday in Kano, noted that “Aminu Ado Bayero’s actions have negated the tradition of the Emirate Council which he belongs to.”

He reminded Bayero that history would never be kind to him if he acted as the source of uncertainty and chaos which might consume many lives in the state.

He said, “Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the dethroned Emir of Kano, should remember that the same person he is challenging today vacated the same seat for him and even disappeared far away from Kano, but he accepted what happened in good faith without causing any uproar. Why are you not replicating his actions?”

Darma further advised Bayero to borrow a leaf from his siblings and even his very close brother, the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero, who quietly left Kano without doing anything that could jeopardise public peace.

“Look at the Emir of Bichi and other emirs; nobody heard anything from them. They respectfully left and vacated their thrones without causing any havoc. That is a clear love for Kano,” he said.

“We are totally against the ill-advised actions of the dethroned Emir Aminu Ado Bayero. We strongly advise him to, as a matter of urgency, relocate and if he has any reservations of what had happened, he should channel it appropriately from wherever he is, but not Kano,” the group counselled the aggrieved former monarch.

It reminded the deposed emir that when Yusuf was campaigning he had promised the people that if elected, he would change the Kano emirates to its former status as a single emirate.

“And here is the governor fulfilling his campaign promises; No wonder Kano people are so calm and happy with the development. As you move around,  one will see nothing has changed.  People are happily going about their normal businesses.

“Somebody cannot sit in Abuja or wherever and decide the fate of Kano. The fact that Kano, with its attendant volatility, remained peaceful and calm, clearly shows that Emir Sanusi is being accepted wholly.

“For this, we are advising Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero not to buy the idea of plunging Kano into chaos. His actions right now show that he is harbouring a personal desire at the detriment of Kano peace and stability,” Darma alleged.

In the meantime, the Northern Youth Assembly has written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to be wary of some people in his government planning anarchy in Kano State.

The letter was also copied to the United Nations Office, Abuja, the  European Union Mission, ECOWAS, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, the US Congress and the European Union.

The letter, signed by Dr Ali Idris, President and Dr Garba Abdulhafiz, Secretary General, dated May 25, 2024, said the change in the emirate law in Kano State was a product of the law passed by the state house of assembly, noting that any attempt to subvert it by Abuja would result in chaos.

• Youths Write Tinubu

It read, “The leadership of the Northern Youth Assembly (Majalisar Matasan Arewa), on behalf of its chapters in the 19 northern states and Abuja, has, at the moment found it compelling to draw your attention, as a democratically elected President, in the country, through a constitutionally prescribed process, with defined powers and privileges, regarding the recent development on Kano Emirate.

“It is common knowledge that Nigeria as a country that practises federalism has a constitution which prescribes the powers for the central government as well as the sub-national government which equally represents the lawfully recognized federating units.

“Sir, as part of the powers provided by the Nigerian constitution of exercising legislative authority by the state assemblies at the sub-national level, is to make laws for the betterment and welfare of their states as well as their citizens.

“The process to exercise this constitutional right may include: making new laws, amending the existing laws and repealing the existing laws.

“The Kano State House of Assembly, in 2019, exercised such powers by amending the Kano State Emirate Councils Laws and created four additional emirates, and the law was subsequently assented by the then Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

“The current Kano State House of Assembly equally exercised such legislative powers by repealing the same law and dissolved the newly created four additional emirates in the state, and the executive Governor of Kano State, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf, equally assented to the new repealed law.”

The youth stated that each of the two assemblies performed their constitutional and legislative functions, as they deemed fit.

They alleged that there was an evil plot allegedly designed by some officials of the Tinubu government to violently and forcefully impose Bayero on the people of Kano using the Federal Government security apparatus, under the pretext of complying with a court order granted by a federal judge   “at a time when he was far away in the United States on a holiday.’’

The letter added,  “This is nothing but a broad daylight encroachment on the constitutional democratic practices, undermining the authorities of the sub-national and federating units, and a clear interference in the exercise of their constitutional powers.

“This ugly development is not only an embarrassment to your Government, but your personality as someone who has always portrayed himself as a democrat.

“Our fear is your government and its appointees may be seen as people who do not have respect for democratic governance, practices and constitutional authority.

“We wish to draw your attention at this juncture that Kano has been peaceful, and any attempt to disrupt the peace in the state by heeding to the interest of some few selfish and greedy people against the wishes of over 20 million people of Kano may lead to chaos and anarchy and is likely to portray your government in the bad light,” the youth added.

Displeased by the crisis, the Northern Traditional Ruling Council, chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto, has expressed concern about the ongoing emirship tussle in Kano State.

In a statement on Sunday by the Emir of Gummi, Justice Lawal Gummi,   who is the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee Northern Traditional Rulers Council, the monarchs called for restraint on the part of the disputants in the interest of peace and stability.

In another development, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has threatened to file a defamation suit against Kano State deputy governor, Aminu Gwarzo.

Gwarzo had alleged that Ribadu facilitated the return of Bayero to Kano, by providing him with a private jet.

• Ribadu Writes Gwarzo

But in a letter to Gwarzo, Ribadu’s solicitors, Aliyu & Musa Chambers, demanded an apology from the deputy governor.

The letter read in part, “The attention of our client was drawn to a video clip being shared on different social media platforms wherein you granted an interview at Emir’s Palace in Kano on Saturday, the 25th day of May 2024, in a very calm atmosphere, and without any provocation whatsoever, falsely accusing our client of using his office to kill the people of Kano State and maim their properties.

“In the clip, you were shown to be speaking in Hausa. Your false accusations against our client portraying his office as an appendage of a political party and a willing tool to cause chaos in Kano is false and done with the intention of damaging the hard-earned reputation of our client in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the society and indeed it has succeeded in doing so.

“In all the places he has served, our client has never been accused of any wrongdoing. Given this illustrious background, it is inconceivable that someone would harbour the thought that our client would descend his exalted office so low as to interfere in the local tussle of the Kano Emirate.

“The wide coverage you gave your interview has caused serious embarrassment to our client and his family.

“Since the publication, our client has been receiving a barrage of telephone calls both within and outside Nigeria from friends and associates who felt disappointed in him because of the false allegation owing to the fact that it came from a person occupying the office of Deputy Governor of Kano State.

“Our client and his office take your allegations seriously and by this letter, our client is demanding that you provide irrefutable evidence to substantiate your claims. If you have no proof, our client demands you to within 24 hours retract the libellous allegation in a similar manner you made it as well as give it wide media circulation and issue a public apology in five national dailies with wide national coverage and on popular online platforms. Note that if you fail to do so, our client will be compelled to seek redress in a court of law.”

Credit: The Punch