A former governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has sued the Kaduna State House of Assembly over allegations that his administration embezzled N432billion.
El-Rufai filed a fundamental rights enforcement case on Wednesday, against the Kaduna State House of Assembly at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
El-Rufai, who appeared in person to file the lawsuit, alleged that the committee denied him a fair hearing.
This was contained in a statement by the former governor’s media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, posted on his X handle on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed by El-Rufai’s lawyer, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, contested the Kaduna Assembly Committee’s report, which accused El-Rufai of corruption.
Adekeye said, “His lawyer, AU Mustapha SAN, said that El-Rufai approached the court as a Nigerian citizen who is entitled to be given a fair hearing before his rights can be determined by a quasi-judicial or investigative body or courts in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
“El-Rufai also asked the court to declare that by the provisions of Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Investigation of Loans, Financial Transactions, Contractual Liabilities and Other Related Matters of the Government of Kaduna State from 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023, as ratified by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, is unconstitutional and therefore null and void for violating his right to fair hearing as guaranteed under the Constitution.”
