Deposed Emir Ado Bayero now private citizen, Kano governor asserts

•Accuses ‘unpatriotic politicians’ of fuelling litigations
•CP denies royal ties with embattled monarch

Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State, yesterday, declared that the deposed Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, is a private citizen like others.

The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature, said the rulings of the Kano State High Court affirm the House of Assembly’s legislation that repealed the 2019 Kano Emirate Law, thereby making the dethroned monarch a private citizen.

In May, Governor Yusuf had dethroned Bayero, while reinstating Muhammad Sanusi as the 15th Emir of Kano.

The governor’s decision followed the enactment of the 2024 Kano Emirate Law by the State House of Assembly, which repealed the 2019 law.

However, speaking on a live programme, the governor’s spokesman noted: “The decision of the Kano State Assembly has been reaffirmed by the court. Ado Bayero is now a normal citizen, and whatever happened is based on the 2024 law, which invalidated the 2019 Emirate laws that divided the Kano Emirate into five.”

“Even if the Emir was not reinstated, the State Assembly, under its constitutional responsibility, decided to repeal the law, which is valid. Automatically, we have reverted to the pre-2019 circumstances where Emir Sanusi was the sole Emir of a united Kano State.

“Based on the court’s decision that actions taken under the repealed law were brought to the governor by the Speaker of the State Assembly, and he assented and announced the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi. This occurred at 5:10pm on May 23, 2024.

“For this reason, we have filed an interlocutory appeal which the judge granted. By this context, Emir Sanusi remains in the palace and continues to discharge all the responsibilities of an Emir of one united Kano, while we wait for outcomes in other courts.

“By virtue of the High Court declaring the law as valid, it confirms the deposition of former Emir Ado Bayero, and he remains a private citizen like every other resident of Kano. He should not be seen occupying any government property. That government property is defective; it’s a mud house where he has forcefully stayed for over a month now.”

He accused unpatriotic politicians of encouraging the deposed monarch to fight on.

The governor said the unpatriotic politicians were behind the court case challenging Bayero’s deposition.

Stressing that politics was involved in the issue of emirate tussle, he recounted that Emir Sanusi never challenged the former state government when he was deposed in 2019.

HOWEVER, the new Commissioner of Police in the state , Salman Garba, has debunked speculation that he is related to the deposed traditional ruler, stating he is in Kano to serve everyone regardless of religion, ethnicity or colour.

He made the clarification in his maiden press briefing at the command headquarters in Bompai Kano yesterday.

The CP said the measure was necessary to combat crimes, maintain law and order, and ensure that peace and stability prevail in the state.

“The security of life and property is our primary concern, and we will work according to the provisions of the law.

“We have already developed an action plan that revolves around collaborative policing after carefully studying the trend of the crime pattern,” he said.

Garba pledged to support and empower officers and men of the command to tackle the resurgence of thuggery (Daba) and other criminal activities in some parts of the Kano metropolis.