The Kano State High Court has scheduled November 20 for the hearing of pending applications in the ongoing case of alleged bribery and misappropriation against the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar, and seven others.
The case, which centers on an eight-count charge brought by the state government, involves allegations of bribery, misappropriation, and the diversion of public funds amounting to billions of naira.
The other defendants include Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, and Lasage General Enterprises Limited.
During the court session on Wednesday, proceedings were set to address the preliminary objection raised by the sixth defendant.
However, counsel for the state, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, SAN, informed the court that he was not ready to proceed, despite having filed a counter-affidavit and presenting a witness who had traveled from Lagos.
“My lord, we have filed our counter-affidavit and one of our witnesses is here before the court all the way from Lagos State,” Adedipe said.
Similarly, counsel for Ganduje, his wife Hafsat Umar, and co-defendant Umar, Mr. Offiong Offiong, SAN, noted that he had not been served the preliminary objection or the plaintiff’s counter-affidavit, requesting a new date to move the application.
“My lord, we are not ready. We are asking for another date to move the application,” Offiong stated.
Other defense counsels also indicated they had not been served with the necessary documents. Counsel for the third and seventh defendants, Mr. Taye Falola, noted that while they had filed their preliminary objection on October 10, they had yet to receive the applications and counter-affidavit. Similarly, Mr. Nureini Jimoh, SAN, representing the sixth defendant, was prepared to proceed, but his co-counsels, including Mr. Abdul Adamu, SAN, and Mr. Faruk Asekome, requested more time, citing incomplete service of documents.
Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu emphasized the importance of proper service of processes and overruled the plaintiff’s application to continue, ultimately adjourning the matter to November 20 for the hearing of all pending applications.