Court of Appeal Halts Its Own Ruling in Kano Emirate Council Case

The Court of Appeal has temporarily suspended the enforcement of its own judgment, which had earlier overturned a Federal High Court decision nullifying the Kano State Government’s repeal of the 2019 Emirate Council Law.

This development means that the appellate court’s ruling from January 10 will remain on hold until the Supreme Court delivers a final verdict on the matter.

The dispute stems from a legislative move on May 23, 2024, when the Kano State House of Assembly passed an amended bill that Governor Abba Yusuf swiftly signed into law. This new law repealed the 2019 Emirate Council Law, which had divided the Kano Emirate into five jurisdictions and was used to dethrone Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano in 2020.

With the 2024 law in place, Sanusi was reinstated as Emir, a decision that did not sit well with certain factions within the Kano Emirate.

Challenging the state’s move, Aminu Agundi and Sarkin Babba of the Kano Emirate approached the Federal High Court, seeking to prevent the enforcement and implementation of the law that restored Sanusi to power.

On the same day the law was enacted, Justice Abubakar Liman of the Federal High Court issued an order preventing the Kano State Government from giving effect to the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law, 2024. Despite objections regarding jurisdiction, the judge later ruled on June 13 that the applicants had the legal standing to contest their dethronement.

In a subsequent ruling on June 20, Justice Liman nullified all actions taken by the Kano State Government in repealing the 2019 law and ordered all parties to maintain the status quo until the case was fully resolved.

However, the Kano State Government took the battle to the Court of Appeal, where Justice Gabriel Kolawole, delivering the lead judgment, ruled that the Federal High Court had erred in assuming jurisdiction over the matter.

Kolawole further directed that the case file be returned to the Chief Judge of Kano State High Court for reassignment to another judge. While two other appellate justices, Mustapha Mohammed and Abdul Dogo, concurred that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction, they opposed the idea of sending the case back for retrial. Instead, they struck out the proceedings entirely.

The latest twist came on Friday when a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Okon Abang, granted a stay of execution on its own ruling. The court upheld two applications—CA/KN/27M/2025 and CA/KN/28M/2025—filed by Aminu Agundi on February 6, 2025.

Agundi had requested an order preventing the enforcement of the appellate court’s judgment while the case remains under review at the Supreme Court.

“The law is settled. The court is enjoined to exercise its discretion judiciously and in the interest of justice,” the appellate court stated while ruling in favor of the stay of execution.