THE Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Friday ordered a fresh hearing into the legal dispute over the Kano Emirate tussle between Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero and Muhammadu Sanusi II.
The Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, had last year reinstated Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir Kano after he dissolved four emirate councils of Gaya, Karaye, Rano and Bichi created by the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, merging them into a single Kano Emirate as it had originally existed.
The governor also sacked the emirs of the four emirates and Aminu Ado-Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano, who had ascended the throne following the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi II in March 2020.
Following the controversy over the emirate, a Kano State High Court on July 15, 2024, restrained Ado-Bayero and the four other dethroned emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye from parading themselves as traditional rulers.
Ruling on an appeal filed against the ruling on Friday, a three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Mohammed Mustapha held that Ado Bayero was denied fair hearing due to the shoddy manner in which the Kano High Court conducted proceedings against him.
Justice Mustapha, who delivered the lead judgment, stated that the Kano High Court was unfair to Ado Bayero by conducting proceedings without serving him a hearing notice to enable him to present his case.
He held that all courts of law are bound to ensure justice for all parties by giving them equal opportunity, adding that the conduct of the proceedings against Ado Bayero amounted to a travesty of justice.
Specifically, the appellate court held that Bayero ought to have been served with a hearing notice to allow him to present his grievances before judgement was delivered against him in what it described as a shoddy arrangement.
The Court of Appeal, therefore, ordered that the case be remitted to the Chief Judge of Kano State to be reassigned to another judge for expeditious determination.
Justice Mustapha did not award costs against the respondents in the appeal filed by Alhaji Ado Bayero.
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