A federal high court in Kano has commenced a hearing on the Kano Emirates tussle between Lamido Sanusi and Aminu Bayero.

It was gathered that there is a heavy security presence around the court facility, with officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) strategically positioned to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

Movement around the area is restricted and vehicles are being diverted from Court Road to Zoo Road and the Gyadi-Gyadi area of the town pending the conclusion of the hearing.

Recall that the controversy began in May when Sanusi was reinstated as emir by Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano.

Sanusi’s reinstatement followed the repeal of the law that Abdullahi Ganduje, the former governor of Kano, used to depose and exile him in 2020.

On May 23, a federal high court in Kano ordered the state government not to enforce the Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024.

Bayero returned to Kano from a trip to Ogun and moved into a palace in Nassarawa LGA.

But the Kano governor ordered Bayero’s arrest “for creating tension in the state”.

• Confusion Orders

On May 27, Amina Aliyu, judge of a Kano high court, made an ex parte order restraining Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano pending the determination of the suit.

The court also ordered the police to take over the Nassarawa palace where Bayero has been staying since he returned to Kano.

On May 28, the same judge restrained the DSS, police and others from evicting Sanusi from the palace.

Shortly after, another high court, presided over by S.A. Amobeda, ordered the eviction of Sanusi from the palace.

On May 29, Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), summoned the chief judges of the federal high court and the Kano state high court over the conflicting orders on the emirship tussle.

Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have killed a popular traditional chief, Adeyinka Folarin, the Baasegun of the Itunsokun community in Ogun State.

The gunmen suspected to be cultists were said to have on Monday night around 8 pm attacked Folarin in his residence in Sagamu

Two traditional rulers under anonymity  confirmed the killing.

One of the traditional rulers said, “The information is correct but I don’t have much information about the incident. We heard that the chief who is a popular traditional chief and member of the Akarigbo in-council was killed last night. He is popularly called Baasegun, we however can’t say these are the people who did these terrible acts. We leave the police and other security agencies to do their job.”

A staff of Sagamu Local Government who pleaded anonymity said that the incident also made the LG workers hurriedly shut down for the day to avoid being caught in any act of violence that the killing could cause.

The source said, “Already, tension is very high in the town as I speak to you, workers are already moving out of the local government secretariat to avoid being caught in any form of crisis. Many are saying the man was killed by cultists but no one could really confirm this, the information is still scanty now.”

More to come…

Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Friday in Paris, France, told the Nigerian community that he suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, from office because the financial system under him was rotten.

Emefiele is still being detained by the DSS.

Tinubu spoke during an interactive session with Nigerians in the Diaspora, resident in France and neighbouring countries, on the side lines of the two-day financing climate pact summit, which ended in Paris on Friday.

He also noted that many of those resident abroad were unable to send money to their relatives because of the multiple exchange rates, which he said had become a thing of the past.

He said: “Then the financial system was rotten. Few people making bags of money and then you yourself, you stopped sending money home to our poor parents. Several windows. But that is gone now. It’s gone.

“The man is in the hands of the authorities. Something is being done about that. They will sort themselves out.”

The President, while describing fuel subsidy as a 40-year-old scam, disclosed that his aides, Dele Alake and Wale Edun, left out subsidy removal from his inauguration speech, adding that he had to summon the courage to announce it when he mounted the podium to give his inaugural speech. He said fuel subsidy was making just a few smugglers rich.

Tinubu said: “Some countries were bleeding us. Courage was missing. Sometimes I became an advocate of it. But God gave me the opportunity when I danced around and strategised with my team. We won the presidency. And the day I was declared winner, I fell almost sick with joy.

“The few friends that visited me were rejoicing. So I asked the question, you asked me to bring this trophy, this victory. What do you do with it?

“I brought it. I won. We must achieve with it. We must change Nigeria with it. And then Wale Edun and co, we started debating, putting my speech together without the question on subsidy. I got to the podium, I was possessed with courage and I said ‘subsidy is gone.’

“They thought it was a joke of the century until I called NNPC. We are tired of feedings smugglers, making few people rich and subsidising the next-door neighbour.

“I met with the President of Benin Republic today. Everybody is equal now. We are friends. We are conjoined twins joined by the hips. How we will separate each other is with this fuel subsidy. Let us see whether we will survive or not but we are going to survive.”

Tinubu assured Nigerians that palliatives to cushion the effect of the removal of the subsidy were being worked out.

On why he kicked against organised Labour embarking on protests, he said they could not be asking for palliative, salary increase, transportation and still want the old order to remain.

“You want money increase in palliative, transportation what are you protesting about? Are you sharing part of the subsidy? If you protest, I will join you and protest against. And they stopped. No protest

“Palliative we will get but we have to save the money in order to embark on giving palliative”.