Vice President Kashim Shettima and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, cautioned against an alleged plot to remove the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, by the Sokoto State government.
The state government, however, denied any plan to dethrone the monarch, describing the allegation as false.
The state Commissioner for Information, Sambo Danchadi, explained that the law guiding the appointment of traditional rulers in the state had not been changed.
Commenting on the purported removal plot, Shettima described the Sultanate as an institution that must be jealously guarded and protected.
Speaking at the ongoing North-West Peace and Security Summit in Katsina State, Shettima told the Sokoto government that the Sultan is much more than a monarch, saying that he represents an idea.
The Vice President said, “In all developmental issues in this country, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, I want to use him as a point of reference to recognise 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 jealousy guard, protect, promote, preserve and project for the growth of our nation.”
The Sokoto State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also warned the state government not to attempt to sack Abubakar from office.
Stating it would resist any attempt to remove the Sultan, the party’s spokesman, Hassan Sanyinnawal, said the PDP was reviewing the recent removal of some district heads and might go to court.
“I want to urge the state government not to make any attempts to sack the Sultan from office. We know it was part of their slogan during the campaign that ‘new governor, new Sultan’; they should drop the idea.
“The Sultan of Sokoto is not just a traditional ruler but also the leader of Muslim Ummah in the country, therefore, any attempt to remove him will be resisted by every Nigerian.
“Already, we are looking at the recent removal of some of the district heads and our lawyer may still have to challenge that. We don’t want anything to disrupt our traditional institutions in the state.
“We heard that the attorney general is submitting a bill to the state Assembly to transfer the power to nominate a traditional ruler or district head from the Sultan to the governor. We will resist it by all legal means,” Sanyinnawal said.
But the information commissioner, Danchadi, dismissed the alleged removal plot, describing it 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.”
