Vice President Kashim Shettima has reacted to plot to reduce the influence of Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III urging the Sokoto State government to protect the Sultan and handle the case with utmost care.
Shettima made the comment at the North West Peace and Security Summit held in Katsina State on Monday.
He 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.”
Shettima responded to Prof. Isiaq Akintola’s alarm about the alleged plot by the Sokoto government to overthrow the Sultan.
Akintola emphasised that Nigerian Muslims would vehemently oppose any attempt to depose the Sultan.
“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.
