Supreme Court Sets Date For Final Verdict In Two-Decade Gwandu Emirate Dispute

The Supreme Court has fixed June 6 for judgment in the appeals and cross-appeals in the Gwandu emirate tussle, which has lasted for 20 years.

The five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji adjourned for judgment after all parties adopted their processes on Tuesday.

The appeals are challenging the seven-year-old order of the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal, which reinstated Alhaji Mustapha Jokolo as the 19th Emir of Gwandu.

Alhaji Jokolo was deposed in 2005 and he challenged his dethronement at the State High Court

In 2014, the State High Court sitting in Birnin Kebbi ordered Alhaji Jokolo’s immediate reinstatement, having been confirmed that he was illegally deposed and that due process was not followed.

However, the Kebbi state government refused to obey the order to reinstate Jokolo; rather, the government, alongside Jokolo’s successor, Muhammad Ilyasu-Bashar, filed an appeal challenging the decision of the State High Court.

The appellate court in 2016 also held that the deposition of the Emir contravened sections 6 and 7 of the Chief Appointment and Deposition Law of the State.

According to the court, the government neither enquired into the allegation against the Emir nor consulted the Kebbi State’s Council of Chiefs before arriving at his decision to despise Jokolo.

At the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sylvester Imhanobe represented the deposed emir, while Yakubu Maikyau, a senior advocate of Nigeria, announced his appearance for Kebbi State Governor.

The apex court accepted Maikyau’s prayer to file additional groups in his appeal and fixed June 6 for judgment.

Supreme Court Sets Date For Final Verdict In Two-Decade Gwandu Emirate Dispute is first published on The Whistler Newspaper