Sokoto govt makes u-turn, denies plans to dethrone Sultan after APC-led Presidency, Dangyadi, MURIC Abanikanda warn
By KEMI KASUMU
Government of Sokoto State, the Seat of the Caliphate, has denied the reported plot to dethrone the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar.
READ ALSO LET’S UNMASK THE ROOT: Wamakko not Governor Ahmad Aliyu has declared the war on Sultan
This denial was coming after several media representations by the Muslim Rights Council, Prof. Isiaq Akintola, United Kingdom-based Nigerian in the Diaspora, Abanikanda Olumoro, and then the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, raised the alarm that the Sokoto government was planning to depose the Sultan and warned Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto against mulling such idea.
The story of denial, however, failed to prick a source within the All Progressives Congress (APC) circle, who said “It cannot be wholy correct to say the government has no plan to remove the Sultan because, there were signs. I disagree with them because there are things they do that I, as party member and lover of this state government, do not accept,” he said under struct condition of anonymity.
MURIC
In a statement issued by Founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council, Prof. Isiaq Akintola, on Monday, titled ‘Don’t touch the Sultan’, it raised the alarm that the Sokoto government was planning to depose the Sultan of Sokoto and cited the removal – in April – of 15 traditional rulers using the excuses of various offences.
According to the statement, Akintola said Nigerian Muslims would reject any hostile actions against the Sultan, who is the Nigerian Muslim spiritual leader, or Sokoto will lose the privilege of leading Nigeria in that regard and history will hold the name of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto and his family responsible for it till eternity.
READ ALSO Ganduje’s battle to bastardise Emirate of Kano, for us, is a fight to finish – Kano Govt
The Islamic group also expressed concern over “the sour relationship between the governor and the Sultan.”
It asked the governor to exercise restraint and not tamper with the traditional institution.
MURIC said, “Any governor who tampers with the stool of the Sultan will have Nigerian Muslims to reckon with because the Sultan combines the office of the Sultan of Sokoto and that of the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.”
Diaspora (UK)
In his article, titled, “LET’S UNMASK THE ROOT: Wamakko not Governor Ahmad Aliyu has declared the war on Sultan”, and released from his Diasporan abode where he does “outside looking inside” in defence of any unjustly treated Nigerian, Abanikanda Olumoro agreed with President Kashim Shettima’s comment that said, “Yes, the Sultan is the Sultan of Sokoto but he is much more than that. He represents an idea. He is an institution that all of us in this country need to jealously guard, protect, promote, preserve and project for the good of our nation.”
He, however, clarified his agreement with the vice president was not approval for Federal Government interference in chieftaincy affairs that are constitutional responsibility the state.
According to the article, whereas the current Governor Kano is only correcting the bastardisation of over 1,000-year-old Kano Emirate by previous administration’s 2019 law that bulkanised the Emirate into five this reducing Emir of Kano to Emir of eight metropolitan local governments of Kano City and restored the lost glory of the place to one united Emirate of Kano under one Emir, what Sokoto State Government plans to do is returning the North to cultural defects that Kano has now walked past.
Olumoro said, “The Governor of Sokoto State, Engr. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, the first Sokoto township indigene to ever govern the state, is now the next Governor of Nigeria to be in the eyes of the storm by his recent action sacking some 15 District Heads in an attempt putting him up like want to rewrite history by now taking upon himself the powers of control of affairs of the Sokoto Caliphate, removing all the powers of the Sultan of Sokoto and reducing him to mere turban giving mmonarch after he must have ended the business of politically selecting who becomes a traditional ruler (District Head) in the Caliphate. God forbid!
“Governor Aliyu should not reopen now in Sokoto, a wound caused by another politician but which Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has succeeded healing in Kano. Half a word is said to the wise children a good home, when it gets into him, it becomes a whole meaningful word.
“From my comfort zone here in the UK, I would want to give to the Sokoto State Governor the best advice any serious state leader would ever be opportune to have by telling him how not to allow some vested interests in the political realm of the state push him into starting an anti-institution war that neither he nor those pushing him to start it will be able to finish,Abanikanda Olumoro warned.
He said, “I am speaking through my only means of communicating being provided by a Nigerian media platform now because I have watched patiently and seen enough since the governor announced those decisions of deposing those District Heads in Sokoto in April 2024 and I have also been able to see that singular action shows that he was out to ridicule the personality of the Sultan but, alas, what I see coming after that will be worse than he plans for the great, world class monarch, because the Sultan is bigger than anyone of the plotters thinks.
“Those actions taken have now sparked controversies as they put the innocent Governor in the eyes of the storm to say that he has declared a war on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and his entire Sultanate Council, Sokoto, as he made the decisions under untenable excuses to remove the historic powers embedded in the Sultan, which is a history said to be older than Nigeria itself.
“However, from the look of the Governor Ahmed Aliyu that I know, and he being a Sokoto township son of the soil, I believe he is not responsible for this sacrilege but is being pushed to put a fight against the Sultan and we know that Wamakko is behind all of these things. He should not allow Wamakko to push him into crisis and war he will start but cannot finish.
“Let me be frank with you, Wamakko himself has always said it that Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar helped him especially when he was removed twice as sitting Governor to get back to his seat in the Government House. I am also telling you, during my several visit to Sokoto during Wamakko era, I saw that it was this Sultan who attracted all of the activities that you are saying now making the state boom into the place. Do you want to talk about how several organizations fix their conferences to hold in Sokoto and how airlines now began to operate Lagos-Abuja-Sokoto and Sokoto-Abuja-Lagos or direct Lagos-Sokoto or Sokoto-Lagos route (private) or you want to talk about how all Nigerian religious and traditional institutions and leaderships now see Sokoto as headquarters of culture and history that they now choose to visit? This Sultan, a retired General-turned monarch, has been behind all of those things. It is because of him that people choose to visit Sokoto but Wamakko, who himself was fully a beneficiary of the benevolence of the Sultan during his eight years in power as Governor, is now the one wanting to bite the same finger that fed him.
“Wamakko should also be told that we, as Nigerian lovers and followers of this Sultan, will not hold the current Governor of Sokoto State responsible for show of ungratefulness towards the Sultan as an embodiment of Great Nigerian Institution with his pet project of peace, unity and development of Nigeria. It is him, former Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko that we will hold responsible because we know that he is only using Governor Aliyu to achieve his aim of fighting the unputdownable Sultan. If you go ahead with it, I see regret at the end of it all. Caution, the only way to stop the imminent war before it commences.
“We started hearing this misbehavior of Mamakko ahead of 2019 general elections when his supporters would go to the frontage of the Sultan Palace said, ‘We will have a new government and we will have a new Sultan’. As God would have it then, they failed in the governorship election and Wamakko, as it is now clear to us, and his cohorts at the time failed to convince Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidency in their behind-the-scene campaigns of calumny to make it believe that Sultan of Sokoto His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, was pro-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) monarch working against the Buhari’s administration.
“We saw it all as they were sponsoring media writes up from saying Sultan took N650 million Nigeria Sokoto State money to buy a private house in Abuja to other reports including those in which they wrote that a very prominent traditional ruler, that is known to be the most influence both in North and entire Nigeria was behind certain insecurity and the rest. They all hid behind one finger and shame would never let them come out place and clean to mention the name of the traditional ruler.
“We thank God that Buhari resisted their evil plots and he is resting peacefully in Daura, Katsina State today. It is also believed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu too will not allow himself to be convinced against the Sultan, first, traditional matter is local and Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, who we know respect the Sultan so much and well, will not allow somebody who is from nowhere and known not anywhere near royalty to push him to destroying the Usmaniyyah Throne that has been preserved for well over a century.
“We pray that God will help the Governor against a so-called politician, who after having spent and enjoyed his own eight years tenure as governor of Sokoto State, now on his second term to complete eight years as Senator representing Sokoto North at the Nigerian Senate wants to ruin his career by making him do things that will have adverse effects on his future as a personality and the future of his children and his entire family.
“Sokoto State, like Kano State people, should stand up against this uncharitable and unpatriotic behavior of the politicians whose target is no more or less than to destroy the values of the people of Kano because when the traditional institution and cultural heritage of a people are destroyed, the values are lost. God forbid.”
Presidency
Also condemning the development was the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima, who said, “…my point of reference to recognize and appreciate all our royal fathers present here. And to the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, I have a simple message for you. Yes, the Sultan is the Sultan of Sokoto but he is much more than that. He represents an idea. He is an institution that all of us in this country need to jealously guard, protect, promote, preserve and project for the good of our nation.”
Dangyadi
A chieftain of the PDP, Yusuf Dingyadi, urged the governor not to cause chaos in the state.
Dingyadi, who is a special assistant to the national chairman of the PDP, said the current administration should not embark on something that could upend the peace in the state.
He noted, “Sultanate is an institution, it reflects our dignity and religious identity for almost hundreds of years after the Jihad of Sheikh Danfodio. It is the custodian of the heritage and Muslim Ummah in the country and beyond.
“Sultan Abubakar is not just a traditional ruler but also a Muslim leader and national leader, so anybody who thinks he wants to remove the Sultan because he hates the occupant of the seat should drop the idea because it will be resisted by all the Muslims in the country.”
Sokoto govt denies dethronement plot
Reacting to the condemnations, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Sambo Bello Danchadi, went straight to address the part that hit his government most, MURIC, and dismissed the alleged removal plot he described as “the imagination of MURIC and the opposition in the state.’’
He said, “The statement is just an imagination of the writer and even the opposition party in the state who are capitalising on the situation in Kano.
“It is true that we are streamlining the traditional law and very soon you will hear from the Assembly when the bill is laid on the table of the House.
“Concerning those traditional rulers they were talking about, there was nothing like removal but we just made an amendment and ensure that those who are supposed to be there are given the position.’
“The law on traditional rulers’ appointment in the state has not changed; it is the traditional council that nominates while the government only approves their nomination.
“They are only using what happens in Kano to raise tension in the state, but I can assure you that the government has no intention of such.
“Our streamline of traditional rulers law has nothing to do with the Sultanate seat. So, no cause for tension whatsoever.”
See the full text of the statement below:
RE- AMENDMENT TO THE LAW ON APPOINTMENT OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN SOKOTO STATE AND THE PEDDLING OF FALSEHOOD.
Following the submission of a bill by the Sokoto State Government for the amendment of the Law on the appointment of Traditional Rulers to the Sokoto State House of Assembly, after its passage by the State Executive Council a few weeks ago, some faceless groups and individuals harboring doubtful intentions, have inundated the Social Media with cooked up stories aimed at tarnishing the good name of the Sokoto State Government.
We had wanted to remain silent and ignore the write ups because they have mostly been written by anonymous individuals, but due to the excessive discussions they have generated and the fear that the misinformation they contain, could further misguide innocent members of the public, we have been compelled to offer some explanation.
The mischievous rumor mongers are alleging among other lies that:
1) The bill in question will seek to dispossess the Sultan of the power to “appoint, suspend, punish, transfer etc any traditional ruler down to the ward head”
2) that the same powers shall be wholely, completely and entirely vested to the Governor without having to consult anybody”
3) that ” how the Sultanate Council will react to this political change, re-inventment or amendment will go a long way to determine its survival”
The Sokoto State Government wishes to remind members of the public that ever since the creation of Sokoto State out of the defunct North-Western State to date, spanning through the reign of the late Sultan Abubakar 111, to Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, Sultan Muhammadu Maccido (all of Blessed memory), indeed up to the present Sultan, His Eminence Muhammadu Saad Abubakar, the Sultanate Council has always remained responsible in both Law and Practice, for Collating applications of all aspirants to the thrones of District and Village Heads.
The Sultanate Council has been responsible for shortlisting and Submitting recommendations of three Candidates to the Governor for approval. It has been the Governor, who approves One of the recommended Candidates for appointment as District or Village Head.
It is at this point that the Sultanate Council conveys the Governor’s approval to the appointee and subsequently arrange for his turbanning by the Sultan.
It was only in 2007, during the reign of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, when the Law was amended to give Sole Powers to the Sultan to appoint Village Heads without recourse to the State Government. This has been the practice up to date.
Indeed, the essence of resubmitting this bill for amendment, is not in any way intended to alter the already existing Powers of the Governor or the role of the Sultanate Council in the appointment of District and Village Heads.
For the avoidance of doubt, the bill will soon be on the floor of the State House of Assembly for all to see.
In other words, the amendment is only seeking to align the law with what has been in practice for decades. The amendment also seeks to review the tenure of Local Government Councils from Two to Three years for better and more effective performance of the Councils.
As far as the Sokoto State Government is concerned, its relationship with the Sultanate Council has always been cordial and will continue to remain so.
All mischief makers are therefore seriously advised to find alternative means of dissipating their energy.
Signed
Sambo Bello Danchadi
Commissioner of Information and Orientation
25-06-2024
