Moves by the Sokoto State government to reduce the powers or sack Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, were yesterday rebuffed by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), describing it as a wrong step that would be resisted by the Muslim community.
Despite the denial of the state government that nothing was in the offing to undermine the office of the Sultan, Sokoto State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed for the first and second reading Emirate Council Ammendment bill, aimed at stripping the Sultan powers to appoint kingmakers and district heads without approval of the governor.
MURIC in a statement on Wednesday by its executive director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, described the bill as outrageous, nauseating and anachronistic, saying the piece of legislation was a direct attack on the traditional institution of Sokoto.
“What explanation does the governor have for the sudden interest in hijacking the Sultanate Council? This is further evidence that Governor Ahmed Aliyu is deceiving Nigerian Muslims. It is a manifestation of a strange crave for absolute power,” MURIC stated.
Akintola said instead of entrenching the powers of the Sultan, the bill is an undisguised attempt at weakening his powers and making him less relevant in the scheme of traditional settings.
Speaking in same vein, President General of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, also warned that any attempt to undermine the office of the Sultan would be resisted by Northern youths and Muslims in Nigeria. Shettima noted that it was important for the governor of Sokoto, Aliyu, to focus on the insecurity, hunger and unemployment in the state instead of causing unnecessary uproar.
According to him, the case of the dethroned Emir of Kano could not be likened to the Sultan of Sokoto, saying that the Sultan oversees the affairs of all Muslims in the country and, as such, caution should be taken. “The Sultan oversees the affairs of all Muslims in the country; he is the spiritual leader of the Muslim community. Therefore, we should not compare apples with oranges by likening it to the Kano emirate tussle. Any group or individual that wants to undermine the Sultan’s office is joking,” he stated.
