Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Tayo Oyetibo, has said the concept of banishing deposed traditional rulers in Nigerian communities is outdated.

He said in view of constitutional provisions, such banishment could no longer stand.

Oyetibo said this in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday against the backdrop of the dethronement of Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano and his banishment to Nasarawa State.

Sanusi was on Monday dethroned for what the administration of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje described as insubordination.

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On whether his banishment can stand the test of the law, Oyetibo said,

“The notion of banishing deposed monarchs is a vestige of the colonial era and as of today, no Nigerian can be banished from one place or another.

“Of course, you can say that in the interest of peace and order, if a monarch is deposed, in order not to cause disturbance of the peace, he could be persuaded to leave the immediate community and persuaded is the word.

He can be persuaded to leave the community and probably go and live in another community for some time and he will choose where he is going to live.

The concept of banishment does not exist anymore under the present constitutionalism that we practice.

It is no longer permissible.”

Meanwhile, advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has, in a statement by its Deputy Director, Mr Kolawole Oludare, demanded the immediate release of Sanusi, describing the arrest of the dethroned monarch as “arbitrary and unlawful.”

Oludare said, “He (Sanusi) has a constitutional right to liberty and freedom of movement.

“Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him.

“We’ll take legal action against Nigerian and Kano State authorities to enforce the fundamental rights of the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II if he is not released from illegal detention within the next 48 hours.”