Against speculations that the Sokoto State Government is planning to depose the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has warned that the Sultan is larger than the Sokoto domain.
In what is like his own way of telling the state government that it cannot remove depose Sa;ad, he said the Sultan was not just the Sultan of Sokoto.
He told the government of Sokoto State that he must be guarded jealously at the North West Peace & Security Summit, which is being broadcast live on Trust TV.
“Our father who is a permanent picture in all developmental issues in this country, His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto. I want to use him as my point of reference to recognise and appreciate all our royal fathers present here.”
“And to the Deputy Governor of Sokoto, I have a simple message for you. Yes, the Sultan is the Sultan of Sokoto, but he is much more than that; he represents an idea. He is an institution that all of us in this country need to jealously guard, protect, promote, preserve and project for the good of our nation.”
Shettima spoke after the Executive Director of Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), Prof. Isiaq Akintola, raised the alarm that the Sokoto government is allegedly plotting to depose the Sultan.
Governor Ahmed Aliyu had earlier deposed 15 traditional rulers for various offences.
In his statement, Akintola said Nigerian Muslims would reject any thought of deposing the Sultan.
“MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional. It is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.
“Therefore, any governor who tampers with the stool of the Sultan will have Nigerian Muslims to reckon with because the Sultan combines the office of the Sultan of Sokoto and that of the President General of the NSCIA,” Akintola said.
