A Kano State High Court has scheduled April 15, 2025, for the hearing of all outstanding preliminary objections in the ongoing case of alleged bribery and misappropriation involving the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar, and six others.
The Kano State Government filed an eight charges against the defendants, accusing them of bribery, misappropriation, and diverting public funds running into billions of naira.
Other defendants named in the case are Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, and Lasage General Enterprises Limited.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, prosecution counsel Adeola Adedipe, SAN, expressed readiness to proceed with the pending applications.
“My Lord, we have filed a motion on notice, dated February 2 and served on February 5, seeking an extension of time to enable us to regularize our preliminary objection,” Adedipe informed the court.
Counsel for Ganduje, his wife, and Umar, Lydia Oluwakemi-Oyewo, similarly declared her readiness to continue with their defense.
However, some defense lawyers requested more time to organize their legal documents.
Counsel for the 3rd and 7th defendants, Adekunle Taiye-Falola, explained, “My Lord, we filed our application for an extension of time, dated December 12, 2024, to reply to our further and better affidavit on points of law. We need to regularize our processes.”
Sunusi Musa, SAN, representing the 5th defendant, also moved a motion for an extension of time, dated and filed January 7, 2025.
Meanwhile, counsel for the 6th respondent, Abubakar Ahmed, said he had filed a preliminary objection dated September 9 and was prepared to proceed, while Ibrahim Aliyu-Nasarawa, representing the 8th defendant, requested additional time to prepare.
After considering the submissions from all counsels, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu granted the applications for an extension of time and adjourned the case to April 15, 2025, for hearing of the objections.
The case has drawn significant public interest and is expected to continue with the hearing of preliminary objections before the substantive trial begins.
