Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a lawsuit against the Kaduna State House of Assembly, challenging accusations that his administration misappropriated N432 billion and left the state with substantial debt.
On Wednesday, El-Rufai personally filed a fundamental rights enforcement case at the Federal High Court in Kaduna. He claimed that the Assembly’s committee had denied him a fair hearing.
In a statement released by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, and posted on social media, El-Rufai expressed his concerns about the process and the findings of the Assembly’s committee. The lawsuit, filed by El-Rufai’s lawyer Abdulhakeem Mustapha, disputes the committee’s report, which accused him of corruption.
Adekeye stated, “His lawyer, AU Mustapha SAN, said that El-Rufai approached the court as a Nigerian citizen entitled to a fair hearing before any quasi-judicial or investigative body or court can determine his rights, in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”
El-Rufai is seeking a court declaration that the report by 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 approved 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.
In June, the Assembly’s ad hoc committee submitted its investigative report on El-Rufai’s administration’s financial activities, loans, and contracts. The committee’s chairman, Henry Zacharia, asserted that the loans obtained during El-Rufai’s tenure were largely mismanaged, and proper procedures were not followed in some instances.
Assembly Speaker Yusuf Liman accused El-Rufai’s administration of misappropriating N432 billion, leading to significant financial burdens for the state.
