THE former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has sued the state House of Assembly over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office against him.
The Assembly accused El-Rufai’s eight-year administration of allegedly siphoning ₦432bn leaving the state with huge debt liabilities.
The former governor filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Kaduna against the Assembly on Wednesday, June 26.
The suit was filed by his lawyer, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a senior advocate.
El-Rufai in the lawsuit asked the court to declare the Assembly probe report void because he was not given a fair chance to address the accusations the committee made against him and his administration.
He asked the court to assert 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 ensured under the Constitution.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly, the State Attorney General, and the Commissioner of Justice were joined as respondents in the suit.
The ICIR reported that the State House of Assembly recommended that El-Rufai be prosecuted over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office.
According to a report, this occurred on Wednesday, June 5, after an ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the allegations submitted its report.
The committee was led by its chairman, Henry Zacharia.
Its findings revealed that several loans obtained by the Kaduna government under El-Rufai’s administration were not used for intended purposes.
The committee also reported that due process was not followed in securing some of the loans, and in awarding certain contracts.
Some of El-Rufai’s cabinet members were also indicted in the report.
Upon receiving the report, Speaker of the Kaduna House of Assembly, Yusuf Liman, said El-Rufai’s government siphoned N423 billion.
In March, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani blamed El-Rufai for the state’s debt and his government’s inability to pay salaries, despite helping to secure some of the loans that contributed to this while representing the state at the Senate.
A reporter with the ICIR
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