The High Court 11 sitting in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital has ordered the state commissioner for agriculture to return 58 tractors he sold illegally in the state.
The presiding judge, Hon Justice Bello Shinkafi, further ordered the commissioner to bring back the 58 tractors within two days to the court premises in the state.
Delivering judgement on Monday over the case filed by a contractor (Dublim Investment Kano) against the Zamfara State government, Justice Shinkafi also ordered the commissioner to appear before the court on September 14, 2022, in the state.
Speaking shortly after the court sitting, the counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Misbahu Salahudeen, disclosed that his client (Dublim Investment Kano) sued the state government over non-payment of over N220 million.
According to him, in 2019, the High Court 111 ordered the state government to pay the contractor the said amount but the payment was not effective since than.
He further explained that the High Court 111 then gave an order for the confiscation of state government properties for auction to pay the contractor.
“Following the court order, many vehicles were confiscated and marked for auctioning including the 58 tractors that were parked in the state to ensure settlement of the contractor,” he said.
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Barrister Misbahu disclosed that while waiting for the court to give order for the auction, the commissioner of agriculture connived with some people and went ahead and sold the 58 tractors illegally.
He said as a result of unnecessary delay to give the order for the auction, they decided to challenge the delay at High Court 11 in the state.
“It’s within the Constitution, order 33 of the high court procedures that you can sue a judge to his superior court. That was why we took our case to High Court 11 which today the judge ordered High Court 111 to immediately give a court order for the auction and commissioner for agriculture to return back 58 tractors sold illegally,” he said.
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