- Says An Attack On Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar Is An Attack On All Nigerian Muslims
By Abiola Olawale
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has raised a strong alarm over a plan allegedly being orchestrated by Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State to remove the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III from his position.
The Executive Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued on Monday said the group received intelligence reports that the Governor is allegedly perfecting plans to oust the incumbent Sultan of Sokoto.
Akintola who strongly condemned the alleged move said any attempt to remove Sultan Abubakar would be regarded as an attack on the Muslim community of Nigeria.
According to him, Sultan Abubakar is the spiritual head of all Muslims in Nigeria, and as such any attack on him will warrant a revolution from the Muslim faithful.
The MURIC boss also warned Aliyu to Bury any plans of removing the Sultan of Sokoto, pointing out that the peace and security of Sokoto State is paramount.
The statement reads in part: “Feelers in circulation indicate that the governor may descend on the Sultan of Sokoto any moment from now using any of the flimsy excuses used to dethrone the 15 traditional rulers whom he removed earlier.
“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,” Akintola said.
The MURIC boss warned that Governor Aliyu should not force Nigerian Muslims to take a drastically revolutionary measure.
He said having a traditional ruler as leader has been a condition Nigerian Muslims accepted a long time ago as a necessary weakness in the structure in which they have to live.
The statement continued: “A military governor, Col. Yakubu Muazu, exposed this soft underbelly when he deposed Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki on 20th April 1996. Nigerian Muslims will be forced to make a hard decision if Sokoto governors continue to diminish the authority of the Sultan.
“For the avoidance of any doubts, Sultan Muhammad Saad Abubakar is not only the Sultan of Sokoto but the Sultan of the Nigerian people. His performance and style of leadership have warmed him into the hearts of Nigerians.
“Nigerian Muslims North and South of the country may be constrained to pick Islamic scholars only as President General of the NSCIA and overall leader of Nigerian Muslims.
“It will be a farewell to the leadership of traditional rulers over the NSCIA and an irreversible departure from Sokoto’s privileged leadership position. But history will not be kind to Col. Yakubu Muazu and Ahmed Aliyu for ruining the chances of Sokoto.
“Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and the third time is enemy action. If the deposition of a Sultan and NSCIA leader happens a second time, Nigerian Muslims will not allow the embarrassment to happen a third time.
“MURIC reiterates its call on the Sokoto State House of Assembly to either repeal or review the state’s chieftaincy laws by adding the phrase ‘except the Sultan of Sokoto’ to Section 6, Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria which empowers the state governor to depose the emirs including the Sultan.
“We urge Northern elites and Islamic scholars based in the North to intervene before it is too late. This is the time to lobby the Sokoto State House of Assembly and the governor himself. If the chieftaincy laws of Kano State can be repealed within 24 hours, nothing stops that of Sokoto State from being reviewed in favour of immunity for the office of the Sultan in a single day to save Nigerian Muslims from humongous embarrassment.”
The New Diplomat reports that this is coming shortly after the Sokoto State Government had revealed its plan to amend section 76 of the local government and chieftaincy law.
The state government had revealed that the reason for the planned amendment was to align with prevailing practices within the state.
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.
Addressing a press conference in Sokoto, the Commissioner for Justice, Nasir Binji, had clarified that the proposed amendment is aimed at synchronising the legal framework with the customary procedure in Sokoto.
