Amid threats of deposition, Vice President Kashim Shettima says the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, is much more than a monarch but an institution.
“He must be jealously guarded and protected. He is much more than a monarch; he represents an idea,” Shettima said on Monday.
He spoke at the ongoing North-West Peace and Security Summit in Katsina State.
Shettima told the Sokoto government, represented by the Deputy Governor, that the Sultan and other traditional rulers in the country need to be jealously guarded and protected for the growth of the nation.
Shettima spoke against the backdrop of an alarm raised by the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), Prof. Isiaq Akintola, that the Sokoto government was allegedly plotting to depose the Sultan.
In a statement on Monday, Akintola said Nigerian Muslims would reject any thought of deposing the Sultan after the state governor, Ahmed Aliyu, deposed 15 traditional rulers for various offences.
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 recognize 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 jealously guard, protect, promote, preserve, and project for the growth of our nation.”
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