The Katsina State Government has dropped a N11 billion lawsuit it had brought against Ibrahim Shehu Shema, a former governor of the state, and Ibrahim Lawal Dankaba, a former chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), in front of the state High Court.
The lawsuit against the two defendants was dropped after the state government on Monday filed a nolle prosqui with the court, according to Abdulrahman Umar, the state director of public prosecution, who was briefing journalists that evening at the Government House.
Shema was charged in 2016 at the state High Court 3 by the late Justice Ibrahim Maikaita-Bako with crimes including criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, and conversion of over N11 billion in public funds while he was the state’s governor.
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Alhaji Sani Hamisu Makana, the former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Alhaji Lawai Rufai, the former permanent secretary of the ministry, and Dankaba, the former chairman of ALGON, were also brought before the court with him.
Shema, who ran for office in the state between 2007 and 2015 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform, pleaded not guilty to all of the accusations made against them by the administration of Governor Aminu Bello Masari.
Umar, during the media chat, said the court during the Monday’s proceedings accepted the Nolle Prosequi and discharged the erstwhile governor and Dankaba from all corruption charges instituted against them by the state government.
He did, however, add that the state government’s decision has no bearing on the N5.7 billion embezzlement case against Shema that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed at the Federal High Court in Katsina.
“Today, Monday, February 13, 2023, we were in High Court No. 3, where the trial of Ibrahim Shehu Shema, the former governor of Katsina State, was taking place.
“We chose a nolle prosequi, which gives the attorney general of any state the authority to file a lawsuit or initiate criminal proceedings against any person in Nigeria before any court of law or to take over such proceedings, as well as the authority to end any case at any point before a verdict is rendered.
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The court gladly accepted the attorney general’s decision to end the case after the attorney general used his or her authority, and we followed suit. In light of this, Lawal Dankaba and the former governor were cleared of all charges. Although the EFCC’s case is still pending, that is the state government’s current position.
[…] Read Also: Katsina withdraws N11bn suit against former Governor Shema, ALGON Chairman. […]