As controversies over the dethronement of traditional rulers continue to simmer in Sokoto, the State High Court, on Wednesday, issued an order restraining Governor Ahmed Aliyu from sacking two out of the 15 traditional rulers already removed by the government.
The orders were sought separately by Alhaji Buhari Dahiru Tambuwal and Alhaji Abubakar Kassim, the District Heads of Tambuwal and Kebbe respectively. Both were among the 15 traditional rulers previously removed by the Sokoto State government on allegations of insubordination and aiding insecurity in the state.
Presiding judge, Justice Kabiru Ibrahim Ahmed, ordered the Governor of Sokoto State, his Attorney General, and the Sokoto Sultanate Council to revert to the status quo pending the determination of the suit filed by the complainants, represented by Prof Ibrahim Abdullahi SAN.
Justice Ahmed directed the defendants, their agents, servants, privies, assigns, or anyone acting on their behalf to “maintain status quo and stay all actions and further actions in connection with all matters dealing with and or appertaining to the removal and or dethronement of District Heads in Sokoto State,” particularly those of Kebbe and Tambuwal, pending the hearing and determination of the motion for interlocutory injunction duly filed by the two before the court.
This development comes as the governor presented a bill to the state House of Assembly seeking to amend the state Local Government Law. The proposed amendment would affect the appointment and disposition of district and village heads, conferring exclusive powers on the governor to appoint and dethrone traditional rulers in the state.
The sacking of 15 district heads and the proposed bill have sparked swift reactions and heated debate across the state and the country. Vice President Kashim Shettima recently warned the Sokoto State government to regard the Sultanate as an institution that must be respected, preserved, and protected. Former Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, also reacted by demanding that traditional institutions be protected from the “excesses of state governors.”
The Muslim Rights Concern in two separate statements, warned Governor Aliyu to abandon the idea of removing the Sultan of Sokoto or diminishing his powers. MURIC accused the governor of targeting the monarch and planning to create a parallel Sultanate Council under the guise of the new law.
The Sokoto State Legislature, last Wednesday, passed the bill to its second reading and referred the matter to a House Committee. A public hearing on the controversial bill is scheduled for Tuesday next week.
