Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman has scheduled Thursday, June 20, to rule on a motion filed by the counsel to Aminu Babba Danagundi, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba, seeking to declare the Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law 2024 null and void.
The motion, moved by Danagundi’s lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, follows the court’s refusal of an oral application for stay of proceedings by counsel for the Kano State House of Assembly, Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN.
Fatogun expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s earlier decision to assume jurisdiction over the matter and informed the court of his notice of appeal and motion for stay of proceedings filed at the Court of Appeal.
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Fatogun requested an adjournment pending the hearing and determination of his application at the appellate court. This position was supported by A.G. Wakil, counsel for the Attorney-General of Kano State, and the state government.
However, Ojukwu countered, arguing that the authorities cited by the defense were not judicial decisions but mere court rules. Justice Liman noted the absence of a fixed date or evidence that the appeal had been entered, concluding that no formal stay of proceedings application was before the court. As a result, the judge decided to hear the pending application.
When Ojukwu began moving his motion to declare the conduct of the defendants null and void, Fatogun, representing the assembly and its speaker, Jibril Ismail Falgore, sought to recuse himself and requested an adjournment to allow his clients to find new counsel. The judge criticized this move as an abuse of the court process.
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Wakil opposed the plaintiff’s motion, citing his application for stay of proceedings and arguing that granting the motion would resolve the substantive case.
Subsequently, Ojukwu withdrew his application to amend his originating motion, which the judge struck out, and adjourned the matter to June 20 for a ruling.
In a related development, Grassroots Parrot reported that Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court awarded N10 million in compensation to Emir Aminu Ado Bayero against the Kano State government for his arrest and eviction from the Nasarawa Mini Palace.
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Justice Amobeda delivered this judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the deposed 15th Emir of the Kano emirate.