Immediate-past governor or Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday, dragged the State Assembly before a Federal High Court over his alleged misappropriation of N423bn by the House.
The former governor through his counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, SAN, filed a fundamental rights suit at Federal High Court in Kaduna.
Mustapha said El-Rufai approached the court as a Nigerian citizen entitled to be given a fair hearing before his rights can be determined by a quasi-judicial or investigative body or courts in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
The former governor in the suit challenged the report of the House Committee which indicted El-Rufai, asking the court to declare the report of the Assembly probe as null and void having not been given the opportunity of fair hearing over the allegations levelled against him and his administration by the committee.
Joined in the suit as respondents were the Kaduna State House of Assembly and state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice.
El-Rufai among, others, according to his spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, in a statement on Wednesday, said his principal, Malam Nasir El-Rufai “was at the Federal High Court, Kaduna, today to sign the affidavit supporting his fundamental rights enforcement case against the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the Kaduna State Government.
“His lawyer, AU Mustapha SAN, said that El-Rufai approached the court as a Nigerian citizen who is entitled to be given a fair hearing before his rights can be determined by a quasi-judicial or investigative body or courts in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
“El-Rufai also asked the court to declare that by the provisions of Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Investigation of Loans, Financial Transactions, Contractual Liabilities and Other Related Matters of the Government of Kaduna State from 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023, as ratified by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, is unconstitutional and therefore null and void for violating his right to fair hearing as guaranteed under the Constitution.”
The Newsupdateng reports that ad hoc committee set up by the Kaduna State House of Assembly to investigate all finances, loans and contracts awarded under the former governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday, submitted it’s report to the House.
The Committee indicated the former governor saying that most of the loans obtained under the El-Rufai’s administration between 2015 and 2023, were not used for the purpose for which they were obtained.
The Committee led by Hon. Henry Zacharia, who’s also the Deputy Speaker of the House, recommended the prosecution of El-Rufai, some other indicted members of his cabinet by security and anti-corruption agencies for abuse of office and money laundering while in office as well as plaguing Kaduna State into heavy debt.
The probe by the state Assembly was necessitated following the lamentation of the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, that El-Rufai left him a huge debt profile.
Sani, who spoke during a town hall meeting in Kaduna, said he inherited a lean treasury, adding that he could not pay workers’ salaries.
Sani said, “Despite the huge debt burden of N587m, N85bn, and N115bn contractual liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development.
“We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and are sharpening our focus accordingly.”
The revelation by Sani had generated reactions from several quarters, including El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, who took to his social media handle and accused his father’s successor of shying away from his responsibility.”
But El-Rufai’s spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, had affirmed the integrity of the El-Rufai government and dismissed as “scandalous”, the claims by the committee.
“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.
“Many of the officials who served in the El-Rufai government appeared before the ad-hoc committee because of their confidence in the quality of their service and the rectitude which they served Kaduna State. They were under no illusion that they were participating in a fair process. It was obvious that the ad hoc committee was merely going through the motions of an inquiry just to give some gloss to predetermined conclusions.”
