A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has dismissed the application filed by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai seeking to quash his indictment by the Kaduna State House of Assembly over N423 billion alleged fraud for lack of jurisdiction.
In his ruling, Justice Rilwanu Aikawa, the presiding judge, transferred the case to the Kaduna chief judge for determination.
The court, in its ruling delivered on July 30, 2024 virtually, also said El-Rufai’s claims of infringement of his fundamental rights lacked merit.
Justice Aikawa issued series of rulings leading to the final judgment, determining that El-Rufai did not present sufficient grounds to overturn the court’s proceedings.
Justice Aikawa also dismissed El-Rufai’s application for recusal, saying the applicant failed to provide cogent reasons or facts for the court to do so, as established by a number of cases decided by the courts.
Mr El-Rufai, through Abdulhakeem Mustapha, SAN, filed the fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
He asked the court to declare the report of the ad hoc committee set up by the house of assembly unconstitutional, null, and void for violating his right to a fair hearing.
The former governor’s motion, filed on July 19, 2024, sought to set aside the court’s proceedings from July 18, 2024, citing lack of jurisdiction and procedural irregularities.
El-Rufai argued that he was not notified of the proceedings and was denied the opportunity to respond to the counter affidavit and written address of the 1st respondent.
He also claimed that the adjournment and hearing were conducted without proper notice, which he contended should render the proceedings null and void.
Justice Aikawa, however, found the reasons for the adjournment unconvincing and ruled that the application for a delay was unjustifiable.
The judge stated, “Adjournment is not for the asking. It has to be justified, and it is entirely at the discretion of the judge to grant or refuse. In the present case, the court exercised its discretion to refuse because there was no justifiable reason why it should be allowed.”
The court also ruled that El-Rufai failed to meet the criteria established in previous case law for challenging procedural issues.
“It is my view that the applicant has not been able to prove any of the circumstances listed in Bello’s case as well as other cases . The application is therefore lacking in merit. It is accordingly dismissed,” the judge ruled.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly has probed El-Rufai’s eight-year tenure were he was allegedly found guilty of stealing N423 billion fraud.
