The Court of Appeal in Kaduna has ordered a fresh trial in the fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over the alleged N400 billion fraud case.
In a ruling delivered on March 17, the appellate court overturned the earlier decision of the Federal High Court and directed that the matter be heard again by a different judge. The court held that the previous proceedings violated El-Rufai’s right to a fair hearing and that the foundation of the case was flawed.
The case stems from an investigation by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, which set up a committee to probe the state government’s financial dealings between 2015 and 2023.
The panel later indicted El-Rufai over the alleged fraud. El-Rufai, however, argued that he was not given the opportunity to defend himself, as he was not invited by the committee, and the case proceeded without his input.
The Court of Appeal ruled that there was no proof that El-Rufai was properly served with a hearing notice, which it deemed a fundamental requirement for any valid legal proceeding. It criticized the use of an unverified text message as proof of service and rejected oral statements by a court official without proper documentation.
The court concluded that the failure to serve a hearing notice rendered the proceedings invalid, depriving El-Rufai of the opportunity to respond to the filings against him. It also criticized the expedited manner in which the trial court handled the case.
As a result, the appellate court declared the lower court’s proceedings null and void and ordered the case to be retried by a different judge of the Federal High Court. It also ruled that all parties involved should bear their respective costs.
