The Federal High Court in Kaduna State has reserved judgment in the case filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who is seeking the nullification of a report by the Ad-Hoc Committee of the State House of Assembly that indicted him and his administration in an alleged N423 billion fraud.
El-Rufai filed a fundamental rights case in June 2024, arguing that the assembly did not afford him a fair hearing during its proceedings. Through his lawyer, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), El-Rufai is asking the court to declare the assembly’s report null and void. The respondents in the case are the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the state Attorney General.
During Thursday’s court session, the respondents, represented by senior advocates Femi Falana (SAN) and Sule Shauaibu (SAN), adopted their respective processes and urged the court to dismiss the suit. Falana argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the fundamental rights case or dismiss the assembly’s report, which he said falls within the assembly’s constitutional mandate.
Shauaibu, representing the Kaduna State Attorney General, also filed objections, asserting that the court should dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction and for being speculative. He pointed out that the applicants failed to present the assembly’s report before the court, a document they sought to have declared unconstitutional.
After listening to the arguments, presiding judge Justice R.M. Aikawa stated that a judgment date would be communicated to the involved parties.
