Ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a petition with the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging Justice Rilwan Aikawa’s bias and impartiality in his ongoing case against the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
The former governor, through his counsel, Mr. Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), requested that the case be reassigned to another judge.
The petition reads: “The applicant herein filed this captioned suit to enforce his fundamental human rights to a fair hearing against the respondents on the 26th day of June 2024 at the Federal High Court, Kaduna Division.
“Upon filing the same, the matter was assigned to Honourable Justice R.M. Aikawa, who fixed the same for hearing on the 8th day of July 2024.
“When this matter was called on July 8, 2024, Mr. S.S. Umoru appeared for the applicant, while Mr. Sani Katu (SAN) appeared for the first respondent.
“Mr. Sule Shuaibu (SAN), the Honourable Attorney-General of Kaduna State, appeared in person for the 2nd Respondent.
“While Umoru informed the court that they had been served with the processes from the 2nd respondent and were still within time to respond to the same, the learned silk for the 1st respondent informed the court that they had not filed any processes and that they were out of time to do so by one day.”
Persecondnews recalls that a special committee established by the Kaduna State Assembly to probe financial transactions, loans, and contracts executed during the El-Rufai administration presented its report to the House during a plenary session on June 5.
While presenting the report, Mr. Henry Zacharia, the Chairman of the ad hoc committee, accused the El-Rufai administration of misusing loans secured between 2015 and 2023, stating that most of the funds were not utilized for their intended purposes.
Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai’s spokesperson, vehemently defended the integrity of the former governor’s administration, categorically dismissing the committee’s allegations as “scandalous” and baseless and maintaining that El-Rufai’s government has always upheld transparency and accountability.
He said: “Malam Nasir El-Rufai is immensely proud of his record of governance and the legacy he left in Kaduna State.
“This record of consistently high performance in public and private office cannot be altered by any malicious effort to use the auspices of a state legislature for defamation and undeserved smears.”
On June 26, El-Rufai took legal action against the Assembly, challenging their allegations of corruption and mismanagement of ₦432 billion during his tenure.
He filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Kaduna, seeking to clear his name and contest the assembly’s claims.
Mr. Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), the former governor’s counsel, filed the lawsuit to challenge the Assembly’s committee’s findings, accusing him of corruption and wrongdoing, and to declare the report null and void.
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