Vice President Kashim Shettima and the Peoples Democratic Party, on Monday, cautioned against an alleged plot to remove the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, by the Sokoto State government.
Against the backdrop of the removal of the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, by the Kano state governor in May, the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council, Prof. Isiaq Akintola, on Monday, raised the alarm that the Sokoto government was planning to depose the Sultan.
He cited the removal of 15 traditional rulers for various offences by the state Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, in April.
Akintola, in a statement, said Nigerian Muslims would reject any hostile actions against Sultan, who is the Nigerian Muslim spiritual leader.
The Islamic group also expressed concern over “the sour relationship between the governor and the Sultan.”
It asked the governor to exercise restraint and not tamper with the traditional institution.
The organisation said the pedestal of the Sultan of Sokoto was not only traditional but also religious, noting that the Sultan doubles as the head of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
The group warned the Sokoto governor not to “force Nigerian Muslims to take a drastically revolutionary measure.”
It said, “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.