Kaduna Assembly Seeks Court Dismissal Of El-Rufai’s Fraud Suit

Kaduna Assembly Seeks Court Dismissal Of El-Rufai’s Fraud Suit

A Federal High Court in Kaduna State has postponed its decision in the case brought by Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor, seeking to invalidate a report from the state assembly’s ad-hoc committee. The committee had accused El-Rufai’s administration of involvement in a purported N423bn fraud.

El-Rufai alleged that the assembly denied him a fair hearing by not inviting him during their investigation. Represented by his lawyer, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, he urged the court to nullify the committee’s report.

During the recent court session, all defendants—including the State House of Assembly and the State Attorney General—submitted their arguments, urging the court to dismiss El-Rufai’s suit. Femi Falana, SAN, counsel for the assembly, contended that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter, emphasizing the assembly’s constitutional authority in such investigations.

Similarly, the State Commissioner of Justice, Sule Shuaibu SAN, echoed the jurisdictional challenge, requesting the court to dismiss the case due to alleged deficiencies.

Despite El-Rufai’s lawyer’s absence, Justice RM Aikawa assured that a judgment date would be communicated following the hearing.

Earlier, the assembly had adopted the ad-hoc committee’s report, prompting a call for further investigation by the state governor and subsequent involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

For further updates on this case, stay tuned.