The Court of Appeal directed the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court to reassign the case to a different judge for fresh adjudication.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned a Kano State High Court injunction preventing Aminu Ado-Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano, and four other dethroned emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya, and Karaye—from parading themselves as traditional rulers.
In a judgement on Friday 10 January, 2024, a three-member panel of justice led by Mohammed Mustapha declared that the ruling of the lower court on 15 July 2024 was flawed and violated the principles of fair hearing.
The Court of Appeal directed the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court to reassign the case to a different judge for fresh adjudication.
The court held that both the legal process and the decision of the Kano High Court were fundamentally tainted by breaches of fair hearing.
It noted that the High Court’s decision undermined the credibility of the judicial process and necessitated the appellate court’s intervention.
Friday’s ruling does little to resolve the case, which has been marked by a flurry of conflicting court decisions supporting opposing claims to the Kano emirate throne.
The latest crisis in the Kano emirate, long known for upheavals surrounding its throne, began last year.
That was when Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State signed a new law culminating in the reinstatement of the formerly deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi.
Implementing the new law, the governor dissolved the four other emirate councils of Gaya, Karaye, Rano, and Bichi created by the previous administration of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
That merged them into a single Kano emirate, as it had originally existed.
Consequently, Mr Yusuf dethroned the emirs of the four emirates and Aminu Ado-Bayero.
They ascended the throne following the dethronement of Mr Sanusi in March 2020 by the then Governor Ganduje.
This development triggered a series of conflicting court orders, with rulings favoring both sides in the dispute over the Kano Emirate throne.
With the Court of Appeal ordering the hearing in the dispute means that a conclusive resolution of the crisis is not yet in sight.
Idris Abubakar, Kano State.