4 days ago
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A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, has sued the state House of Assembly over the latter’s claim that N432 billion was siphoned during his eight-year administration, leaving the state with huge debt liabilities.
El-Rufai filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Kaduna against the state House of Assembly on Wednesday.
Through his counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), El-Rufai challenged the report of the Kaduna Assembly Committee, which indicted him for alleged corruption.
It would be recalled that the ad hoc committee set up by the Kaduna State House of Assembly to investigate all finances, loans, and contracts awarded under Nasir El-Rufai submitted its report, in which it indicted the ex-governor and some of his appointees.
But El-Rufai, in a swift reaction by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, knocked the report, describing it as false and scandalous.
In his suit, El-Rufai 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 May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023, as ratified by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, is unconstitutional and therefore null and void for violating his right to a fair hearing as guaranteed under the Constitution.
El-Rufai, who was personally at the court registry to depose his affidavit accompanying the suit, according to a statement by his media aide, said he 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.
