Now the legal struggle of the leadership of the Kano Emirate has reached a curious turn as the former Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani compared the trial to the football match between the two warring emirs.
Taking to social media platform X, Sani creatively framed the legal proceedings through a sports lens, stating: They said that the Kano Emirate affairs are still at the early stage, the High Court is the quarter-finals, Appeal Court is the semi-finals, and Supreme Court is the final. The scores so far are 1:1.” He further extended his forecast that the ultimate decision might hinge on an aim and groove of what might be a “penalty kick between Team Brother Aminu FC and Team Brother Sanusi FC “.
The legal battle has therefore witnessed a number of revolutions as follows. Firstly, in June 2024, Alohou Justice Abubakar Liman sitting in the Kano Division of the Federal High Court gave his judgment invalidating Muhammad Sanusi’s appointment to the stool of Emir. The Nigerian Federal High Court however made this decision and was reversed by the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court making what some consider to be an equal result in this game-like legal battle.
The decision really escalated in the year 2024 when the Kano State government made a major step of removing Aminu Ado Bayero and placing Sanusi back in the throne as the Emir. This came after the Kano State House of Assembly nullified the Kano Emirate Law of 2019 that created a system of five emirates.
The case has received considerable attention because it involves one of Nigeria’s highly esteemed traditional organizations. There are deeper issues beyond the conflict between Muhammad Sanusi, the outspoken Lamido of Zazzau with progressive tendencies, and Aminu Ado Bayero from a line of traditional rulers to succeed his father: Traditional rulers in contemporary Nigeria.
With the case looking likely to go to the Supreme Court, Sani’s sports analogy has given a comedic spin to what is still a major issue of customary power and organisational legitimacy in Northern Nigeria.
