A Kano State High Court has scheduled February 13, 2025, to hear all pending preliminary objections in the high-profile case involving alleged bribery and misappropriation of funds levelled against the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and seven other defendants.
The case, filed by the Kano State government, includes an eight-count charge accusing Ganduje, his wife Hafsat Umar, and others of bribery, misappropriation, and the illegal diversion of public funds amounting to billions of naira. Other defendants named in the suit are Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, and Lasage General Enterprises Limited.
At the hearing on Wednesday, legal counsel for Ganduje, his wife, and one of the co-defendants, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) M.N. Duru, holding brief for Offiong Offiong, SAN, requested the court to strike out an earlier application filed on October 21 seeking witness statements and facilities. Instead, he asked to proceed with a new application dated November 18, 2024.
“My Lord, we urge the court to strike out this application,” Duru stated. “We intend to move forward with a revised application, which we submitted on November 18. Since the motion has not been moved, it cannot be dismissed, and we request another date to make corrections to the affidavit.”
However, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, counsel to the applicant, opposed Duru’s request. He argued that the application should be dismissed rather than struck out, as the defence had already served a new application dated December 10, 2024, which was not yet ready for hearing.
Adedipe explained, “We have filed a counter-affidavit dated November 15, 2024, along with two additional counter-affidavits dated October 18 and October 21. We believe that the application for withdrawal should be dismissed outright.”
Counsel to other defendants also made submissions during the session. M.N. Duru, representing the 3rd and 7th defendants, noted that he had submitted a further affidavit and a motion on notice filed on October 18, 2024. Counsel for the 5th defendant, Mr. Sunusi Musa, SAN, requested an adjournment to make necessary corrections to their filings.
Similarly, Abubakar Ahmed, counsel for the 6th respondent, informed the court that he had filed a preliminary objection supported by a nine-paragraph affidavit and additional documents, including a written address dated September 9 and a counter-affidavit filed on October 24.
Faruk Asekome, representing the 8th defendant, stated that his team had filed a preliminary objection dated November 10, 2024.
After hearing submissions from all parties, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu struck out Ganduje’s application as requested and overruled the objections raised by the applicant’s counsel. The judge adjourned the case to February 13, 2025, to allow for the consolidated hearing of all preliminary objections filed by the parties.
The case has drawn significant public attention due to the stature of the defendants and the gravity of the allegations, which involve accusations of large-scale corruption during Ganduje’s tenure as governor of Kano State. As the court date approaches, observers await further developments in what has become one of the most prominent legal battles in recent times.
