N400bn fraud: El-Rufai gets fresh trial in rights suit

Elrufai

The Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, has nullified the judgment of the Federal High Court in a fundamental human rights suit filed by a former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

The court ordered a fresh hearing of the suit before another judge.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on March 17, the Certified True Copy of which was sighted by Saturday PUNCH on Friday, the court held that the trial court proceedings were conducted in breach of the appellant’s constitutional right to a fair hearing.

The three-member panel are Justice Onyekachi Otisi, Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and Justice Sybil Gbagi.

Consequently, the appellate court set aside the entire proceedings and judgment delivered by the lower court on July 30, 2024.

The appeal, marked CA/K/240/2024, was filed by El-Rufai against the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the Attorney General of the state.

The dispute stemmed from an investigation by the Assembly through an ad hoc committee, which probed financial activities, loans, and contracts of the Kaduna State Government between May 29, 2015, and May 29, 2023. Punch