Kano State Government has said that the city’s custom allows the banishment of any Emir who acts contrary to the tenets of the office.
As a result, it said, it rejected a court pronouncement that quashed the banishment of deposed Emir, Sanusi Lamido.
The state’s Justice Commissioner and Attorney General, Musa Lawan, said, ““Where a person that is part of the emirate decides to destroy the tradition and custom and do only things that he deems fit will not be allowed.
“For over 100 years, it has been the tradition and custom in our clime that when an emir is deposed, he is banished to another community and there was nothing unusual in the case of Malam Muhammadu Sanusi II.”
Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court on Tuesday November 30, awarded the N10 million compensation against the respondents comprising the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Attorney-General of Kano State. She also ordered them to tender a public apology to Mr Sanusi in two national dailies.
The court held that the Emirate Council Law, 2019, relied on by the Kano State government in banishing Mr Sanusi was in conflict with the Nigerian constitution.
Chikere stated that the Nigerian constitution is supreme and any law that is inconsistent with it shall be null and void. She added that the former emir had the right to live anywhere, including Kano State, as enshrined in the country’s constitution.
