The lingering controversy over the 2020 succession to the Zazzau Emirate throne has taken a authorized dimension as members of the royal household have dragged the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli, earlier than the Kaduna State Excessive Court docket over remarks he made in a latest interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The son of the late Iyan Zazzau, Dr. Nasiru Bashari Aminu, has filed a defamation go well with towards the Emir, alleging that he falsely advised within the interview that confidential particulars of the succession course of have been leaked to his late father by the then-Wazirin Zazzau, Alhaji Ibrahim Aminu.
The household described the remarks as false, defamatory, and injurious to the dignity and reminiscence of the late prince.
Court docket paperwork obtained in Kaduna point out that the matter has been fastened for listening to on November 4, 2025, on the Zaria Judicial Division of the Excessive Court docket of Kaduna State.
The Emir now faces two separate defamation fits from the interview. Along with Dr. Nasiru’s case, former Wazirin Zazzau, Alhaji Ibrahim Aminu, has additionally sued, difficult the Emir’s description of him as “smug” and for insinuating that he leaked delicate info in the course of the succession course of.
The lawsuits, instituted by two of the emirate’s most senior figures and their households, underscore the burden of the Emir’s feedback, which the plaintiffs argued inflicted reputational harm when broadcast internationally.
For the household of the late Iya Bashari Aminu, the difficulty is especially delicate. Regardless of securing the best variety of votes from the kingmakers in the course of the 2020 succession, he was not chosen.
They harassed that he by no means maligned the establishment, as an alternative urging loyalty to the newly put in Emir whereas pursuing authorized redress in courtroom. To now painting him as complicit in impropriety, the household mentioned, was an insult too grave to miss.
The listening to has been slated for November 4.
