Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima has warned the government of Sokoto State to ensure that nothing happen to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III.
He described the Sultan as representing an idea and an institution that all Nigerians should jealously guard and protect.
Vice President Shettima, who spoke today, June 24, at the ongoing North West Peace and Security Summit, which is being broadcast live on Trust TV, said: “our father who is a permanent picture in all developmental issues in this country, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto. I want to use him as my point of reference to recognize and appreciate all our royal fathers present here.
“And to the Deputy Governor of Sokoto, 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.”
Vice President Shettima’s warning came on the heels of the suspicious making the rounds that the Sokoto State Government is toying with the idea of deposing Sultan Abubakar III.
The Executive Director of Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), Professor Isiaq Akintola had raised the alarm that the Sokoto government is allegedly plotting to depose the Sultan.
In his statement earlier today, Professor Akintola had said that Nigerian Muslims would reject any plan to depose the Sultan.
“MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional, it is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.
“Therefore, 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 NSCIA.”
Under the current law, the authority to appoint district and village heads lies with the Sultanate Council.
However, in practice, the Sultanate Council merely provides recommendations to the state government, with the governor ultimately making the appointments.
The state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasir Binji,
had clarified that the proposed amendment aimed to synchronise the legal framework with the customary procedure in Sokoto.
He told newsmen after a State Executive Council meeting that under the proposed amendment, the Sultanate Council would retain the power to recommend candidates, while the authority to appoint would be vested in the governor.
