The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, has summoned the chief judges of the federal high court and the Kano State over conflicting orders issued by the courts in Kano on the emirate tussle in the city
The Director of Information of the National Judicial Council, Soji Oye, confirmed the invitation to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
Also, the Nigerian Bar Association demanded an investigation into the conflicting court orders on the Kano emirate throne tussle between the reinstated emir, Muhammadu Sanusi, and Ado Bayero, who was deposed by the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, last week.
The NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, called on the respective heads of the courts to investigate the judges’ conduct and report their findings to the NJC for necessary actions.
Worried by the tension created by the judicial rulings, the Kano State Government has banned protests and public gatherings related to the emirate tussle.
In the aftermath of the removal of Bayero and the four emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye, four contrary rulings had been handed down by three judges.
On the day of Sanusi’s reappointment, Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, restrained the Kano State Government from implementing the new emirate law.
Governor Yusuf, however, rejected the court order, arguing that the judge who issued it was in the United States at the time.
On Monday, Justice Amina Aliyu of the Kano State High Court issued an order restraining Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano pending the determination of a suit instituted by the Attorney General of Kano State, Speaker House of Assembly and Kano State House of Assembly.
The judge also restrained the four other dethroned emirs of Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye from parading themselves as emirs pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the applicants.
The judge gave the order after hearing an ex-parte application dated May 27, 2004, filed by Ibrahim Wangida, the counsel to the applicants.
Twenty-four hours later, Justice S. Amobeda of the Federal High Court and Justice Aliyu issued two contradictory orders on the same Kano emirate tussle.
Amobeda ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Hussain Gumel, to ensure that all rights and privileges of an Emir were given Bayero.
Furthermore, he ordered the eviction of the reinstated emir, Sanusi II, from the Gidan Rumfa palace.
Aliyu on the other hand restrained the police, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army from evicting Sanusi from the palace.
The judge barred the respondents from “attempting to hijack” the symbols of authority meant for the Emir of Kano pending the determination of the suit.
The judge gave the interim order in a case filed by Sanusi and four Kano kingmakers.
The respondents include the Kano CP, the IG, the director of DSS, the Chief of Defence Staff, and Bayero.
The Director of Information of the NJC, Soji Oye, on Wednesday in Abuja confirmed the invitation of the chief judges
Giving details of the invitation, a senior official, who spoke in confidence because he was not authorised to disclose the matter to the media, said, “It’s not going to be an immediate thing. It will take some time because there is a process to it. The Chief Justice cannot act alone or carry out disciplinary action on the judges all by himself. The council will set up a committee to investigate the judges. If found guilty, the committee will come up with sanctions to be meted out to them.’’
But in a statement on Wednesday, the NBA President, Maikyau, SAN, frowned on the embarrassing conduct by the counsel and judges involved in the cases.
He stressed the need for an urgent review of the actions of the judicial officials.
He said, “I must say, without any equivocation, that the conducts of counsel and the courts in the handling of the proceedings which culminated in the orders issued by the Federal High Court, the Kano State High Court and again the Federal High Court, in the circus, have brought utter disgrace and shame to the profession and have exposed the entire legal profession in Nigeria to public ridicule and opprobrium.
“The damage would take the legal profession a long time to recover from. It is unfortunate and was totally uncalled for. For a country whose legal resources and expertise have for several decades been exported and positively impacted not only the African continent but the world at large, it is completely unacceptable that the processes of our courts would be deployed in the manner we have witnessed in the last couple of days, on a subject matter that is as clear as chieftaincy dispute.
“This is a subject that has been sufficiently dealt with by legislation and case law, leaving no one confused about the jurisprudence on the subject procedural and substantive.’’
Continuing, he noted, “Without prejudice to the subsisting actions before both the Federal High Court and the Kano State High Court, it is my considered view that there is an urgent need to scrutinize the professional conduct of both counsel and the judges involved in these matters.
“This is to enable the relevant bodies or institutions to determine their culpability or otherwise, from an ethical and professional standpoint.
“I, therefore, call on the respective heads of the courts of the judges concerned, to take immediate steps to look into their conduct with the view to finding any possible abuse of their judicial offices and file a report with the National Judicial Council for necessary action.
“The NBA on the other hand will investigate the conduct of the counsel involved in these cases and shall not hesitate to commence disciplinary action against them before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, should there be any finding of alleged professional misconduct against them.
“The Chairman of the NBA Ethics and Disciplinary Committee has accordingly been directed to invite these counsel for preliminary investigations.
“While the NBA shall continue to stand for and protect the integrity, welfare, and independence of the Bar and the Judiciary, we shall not hesitate to call out any judge or counsel, who engages in any conduct capable of bringing the legal profession to disrepute.”
Meanwhile, the Kano State Government has banned all public gatherings or protests within the state.
The government warned that any individuals involved in any form of protests would be promptly apprehended.
This was contained in a statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Tofa, on Wednesday.
It read, “By virtue of his position, the governor has directed the police, the Director of State Security Services, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to apprehend, detain, and prosecute any individual or group partaking in demonstrations on the streets of Kano.
“This decisive action is a pre-emptive strategy aimed at averting any potential breakdown of law and order orchestrated by adversaries of the state.
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