3rd
November, 2021
PRESS RELEASE :
15TH ANNIVERSARY OF CORONATION: MURIC
SALUTES SULTAN, SEEKS IMMUNITY FROM DETHRONEMENT
As the Sokoto Sultanate marks the 15th anniversary of the
Sultan’s coronation, an Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC), has congratulated the Sultan of Sokoto and President General
of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. MURIC also demanded the
exclusion of the Sultan from traditional rulers who can be dethroned or
influenced by a state governor or by the Federal Government (FG).
This was contained in a congratulatory message released by the group’s
director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Wednesday, 3rd November,
2021.
The statement reads :
“On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the coronation of
the Sultan, we heartily felicitate with the Sultan of Sokoto and President
General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji (Dr)
Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar. We also commend the Sultan for the giant strides and
reforms witnessed by both the Sultanate and the NSCIA since he ascended the
throne of his forefathers.
“We note with immense satisfaction that the Sultan has been certified by
all and sundry as consistently amiable, peace-loving, tolerant, stable and
level-headed. These are qualities which have endeared him to all, not only to
his Muslim subjects alone, but to Nigerians as a whole. It is for this reason
that he is referred to as the Sultan of Nigeria and not just as the Sultan of
Nigerian Muslims.
“Nonetheless, we call the attention
of the Sokoto State Government, the Sokoto State House of Assembly and the good
people of Sokoto State to an imminent danger which hangs above the Sultanate
like the sword of Damocles. This danger is capable of stopping the Sultan in
his tracks and make it impossible for him to continue his good works.
“By the nature and composition of the
NSCIA, anyone who occupies the position of governor in Sokoto State has the
power to depose the sultan. Unfortunately, the removal of the sultan has
the bandwagon effect of removing the president general of the NSCIA.
“This is because Section 6 Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria
empowers state governors to depose traditional rulers and this includes
the sultan. Incidentally the Sultan is the spiritual leader of all Nigerian
Muslims and not just head of the Muslims in Sokoto State alone. It therefore amounts
to infra dignitatem for a state governor to possess the power to remove the
leader of all Nigerian Muslims.
“It has happened before. Sultan Dasuki was deposed by the military
governor of Sokoto State in 1996. Even the Federal Government may use the
instrumentality of the state governor to exercise undue influence on the
Sultan. An unconfirmed report alleged that a state governor once disallowed the
late Sultan Maccido from attending a crucial function because the then civilian
president did not want him to attend.
“As the elected representatives of
the people of Sokoto State, the onus is therefore on members of the Sokoto
State House of Assembly to set the machinery in motion for the repeal of
Section 6 Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria in such a way that it
will exclude the Sultan from the governor’s exercise of the power of deposition.
It is a simple exercise which may not go beyond a motion in the House seeking
to insert the phrase ‘except the Sultan of Sokoto’ in the dethronement
clause.
“This is not about the reigning Sultan alone. It is about the progress
of the Ummah. It is about freedom from undue executive influence. It is also
about stability in the Sultanate and the avoidance of religious crisis of
unimaginable proportion which the reaction of Nigerian Muslims to the
deposition of the Sultan may trigger.”
Long Live the Sultan. Long Live Nigeria.
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
No comments:
Post a Comment