THE Kano State chapter of the Association of Local Government Chairmen (ALGON) has withdrawn its petition seeking to strip the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, of his Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) title.
The group requested the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) to discontinue all activities arising from the petition.
In the petition, the council chairmen accused Aliyu of defying a court order and using intimidation tactics under the guise of an anti-corruption probe against them.
The petition, dated September 17, 2024, and filed by a lawyer, Shamsi Jibril, on behalf of the Kano ALGON, and the state government, claimed that despite a Kano State High Court ‘injunction’ restraining the ICPC from harassing or arresting the LG leaders, the agency insisted on probing them.
According to the petitioners, the ICPC, along with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Police Force, has launched parallel investigations into the same allegations, which they argued violate their constitutional rights to personal liberty, dignity, and fair hearing.
The petitioners specifically cited an incident on September 10, 2024, when ICPC officers allegedly attempted to arrest Zangina Galadima Zango, the caretaker chairman of Rimin Gado Local Government, despite the court order.
But in response, the ICPC chairman dismissed the accusations, insisting that the agency’s investigation is lawful and targeted caretaker committees, not elected council chairmen.
Aliyu, in a letter dated February 17, 2024, to the LPPC, stated that the ICPC was acting in line with a Supreme Court ruling in June 2024 (AG Federation v. AG Abia State & others), which declared that local governments must be headed by democratically elected officials.
He emphasised that the investigation focused on caretaker committees unlawfully holding power, as the tenure of the elected LG chairmen in the state had expired on February 12, 2024.
However, in a letter addressed to the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, legal representatives of the Kano ALGON Chairman confirmed the withdrawal of the petition.
The letter, dated February 25, 2025, was signed by Shamsi Jibril of Baba & Jibril, Attorneys at Law, representing ALGON and other concerned parties in Suit No. K/M1622/24 at the High Court of Justice of Kano State.
The legal team emphasised that the withdrawal of the petition was in line with the discontinuation of the case at the Kano State High Court.
“We humbly write to withdraw our petition dated September 17, 2024, with the above caption, against Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), chairman of (the) Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). We hope that this letter of withdrawal will bring to an end all measures occasioned by the letter under reference; the suit itself, pursuant to which the complaint was made, having been discontinued at the High Court of Justice of Kano State,” the letter read.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M