Vice President Kashim Shettima has cautioned the Sokoto state government that the seat and person of Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who is also the President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, must not only be promoted nut also guarded jealously.
Shettima stateted this on Monday, at the ongoing North West Peace and Security Summit, which is currently held in Katsina.
“In all developmental issues in this country, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, I want to use him as a point of reverence 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 vice president said.
ASHENEWS reports that there have been speculations that the Sokoto state government is sponsoring an Executive Bill excise the powers of the Sultan to appoint District Heads, a move that is reportedly aimed at reducing him to a powerless monarch.
ASHNENEWS reported the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), Prof. Isiaq Akintola, HERE cautioning Sokoto state government against any attempt to depose the Sultan.
Governor Ahmed Aliyu had earlier deposed 15 traditional rulers for various offences.
“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 Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).
“Governor Ahmed Aliyu should not force Nigerian Muslims to take a drastically revolutionary measure. Having a traditional ruler as leader has been a condition Nigerian Muslims accepted a long time ago as a necessary weakness in the structure which they have to live with,” part of MURIC’s statement reads.
