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The Kano Emirate Council is now in a fix over what to do in the case of one of its four kingmakers, the Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta, Alhaji Aminu ?Dan’Agundi, ?whose dismissal from the council was recently reversed by a Kano State High Court.?
Until his face-off with the emirate council, Dan’Agundi was the district head of Gabasawa.
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Sources close to the palace of Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, also confided in LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that a sharp division had emerged within the ranking titleholders on what to do with the controversial issue.?
While some of the kingmakers were in support of reinstating Dan’Agundi in line with the court judgment, others thought that it would amount to a slap on the face of the revered Emir of Kano and the emirate council to reinstate the kingmaker.?
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The development was also dicey as this was the first time in the history of the reputable Kano Emirate that an individual would sue the emir and the emirate council over chieftaincy tussle. The case had therefore attracted attention of observers within and outside the state.?
?Justice Muhammad Mato had in his judgment delivered on July 14, 2011, held that the suspension and subsequent dismissal of Dan’Agundi from the emirate
council was null and void. He also ordered the emirate council to reinstate Dan’Agundi with his full privileges.?
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The kingmaker was dismissed in controversial circumstances in December 2003 over the allegation of engaging in partisan politics and for allegedly supporting the then Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, who was seeking a re-election.?
But Dan’Agundi had approached the court for a redress in February 2004, challenging the propriety of his purported dismissal.?
He also named the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Bello Abubakar (Bunun Kano), who replaced him as the district head of Gabasawa and the Kano Emirate Council and the Kano State government as co-defendants to the suit.?
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Dan’Agundi had urged ?the court to quash the decision of the emirate council on the grounds ?that he was not given a fair hearing before he was dismissed. He also prayed the court to hold that Bello Abubakar was an ?illegal occupant of the seat as he was not a member of the Jamo Babba Ruling House.?
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In his judgment, Justice Mato, who acknowledged the ?“peculiarities” of the case, stated that ?to “uphold the law of the land, difficult as the situation I find myself in”, held that the emirate council erred in law by hastening to dismiss Dan’Argundi without regard to laid down process.?
He further held that “the suspension and removal of the 1st Plaintiff (Dan’Agundi) as the Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta and District Head of Gabasawa was carried out against the rule of natural justice and fair hearing and therefore unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.”
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But the judge disagreed with the plaintiff that only descendents of Malam Jamo Babba were entitled to the Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta stool, ?saying that the emirate council could appoint anybody, subject to the approval of the state government.?
The court also issued a consequential order compelling the emirate council to pay Dan’Agundi his accumulated salaries and allowances from the date of his purported dismissal to the date of the judgment. ??
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But checks by LEADERSHIP SUNDAY revealed that Dan’Agundi was yet to be reinstated to his former post nor was he paid his entitlements as directed by the court. ?
An informed source who craved for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, however, told our correspondent that those opposed to Dan’Agundi’s reinstatement had prevailed on the council to put the matter on hold.?
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Lawyers to the Emir and that of the emirate council were also said to be heading back to the high court to seek for an order, staying the execution of the judgment
pending appeal against the verdict.
But the development would make the emirate council to continue to keep the kingmaker at bay.