Following the sacking of 15 District heads by the state government recently, there had been widespread apprehension that the ultimate target was to whittle down the influence and power of the Sultan, which transcend Sokoto State and Nigeria.
Although the state government has come out to deny such a move, not many watchers of the event were fazed by such claims.
Chairman of Ekiti State Muslim Traditional Rulers Council and Attah of Aiyede kingdom, Oba Alhaji AbdulMumini Adebayo Orishagbemi, said in a statement circulated to the media during the week that there was no way such idea could fly because the Sultan is not of Sokoto alone but of the entire country.
The statement, personally signed by one of 16 most powerful traditional rulers in Ekiti State, stated, “The attention of the Chairman, Ekiti State Muslim Traditional Rulers Council and Attah of Aiyede Kingdom, Ekiti State, has been drawn to disappointing reports of some politicians in Sokoto State plotting to depose our quintessential monarchy administrator in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.”