A high court in Kano State has postponed till February 13, 2025, the hearing of preliminary objections in the well-known bribery and misappropriation case involving Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and seven other individuals.
An eight-count charge of bribery, misappropriation, and diversion of public funds reportedly totalling billions of naira is at the heart of the case, which was brought by the Kano State Government. Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Abubakar Bawuro, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, Lasage General Enterprises Limited, and Ganduje’s wife Hafsat Umar are also defendants.
Following the defendants’ solicitors’ barrage of submissions and petitions during Wednesday’s hearing, the judge decided to combine the cases and postpone them for a single hearing.
Holding brief for Offiong Offiong, SAN, and representing Ganduje and two other defendants, M.N. Duru, SAN, asked the court to reject a previous October 21 application for facilities and a witness statement.
“We request that the application be dismissed by the court. Our fresh application, dated November 18, will be moved, My Lord,” Duru stated.
In addition, he asked for further time and stated that the dates mentioned in their affidavit needed to be corrected.
But rather than having Ganduje’s withdrawal application rejected, the applicant’s attorney, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, contended that it should be dismissed.
“Two more counter-affidavits, dated October 18 and October 21, as well as our own, dated November 15, 2024, have been filed. Since the plea for withdrawal has not been filed, we implore the court to reject it, My Lord,” Adedipe said.
In addition, a number of other defence attorneys, including those for the corporate defendants, requested adjournments in order to make revisions and consolidate their papers.
Ganduje’s application was rejected by Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, who also overruled the applicants’ arguments.
A crucial hearing is scheduled for early next year after Justice Adamu-Aliyu stated that the court will consider all preliminary objections on February 13, 2025.
