Dollar video clip: Court to rule on Ganduje’s human right protection suit

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano State on Tuesday, presided over by Justice M. A Liman, has set September 22 to rule on the application seeking the protection of ex-Kano governor, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje’s fundamental human rights in the case of alleged dollar in a video clip.

However, when the case resumed hearing, Tuesday 25, Femi Falana, a counsel to the first respondent (Kano Public Complaints and Anti Corruption) told the court that what the former Governor was seeking was a perpetual enjoyment of immunity after living office.

Falana asked the court to dismiss the application seeking the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of Ganduje his family and political appointees.

Falana who submitted a 23 Paragraphs written address to the court, argued that there are no provisions of a law that allowed anybody to come to court and seek protection from Police and other security interrogation without having proof of abuse of fundamental human rights.

According to him, “the public interests Litigation is not an individual matter and that litigation seeks to protect public interests and the application submitted by Ganduje’s counsel only seek to protect him, while the submission of family and political appointees are people who are not known by the court.”

Falana further alluded to the fact that Ganduje is using the cover of protection of his fundamental human rights as a means to gag the court from carrying out its functions.

However, the counsel to the 1st applicant (Ganduje), Matthew Ubah, argued that his client is right to seek the protection of his fundamental human rights when due process was not been followed while inviting him by the state anti-corruption commission.

He also argued that the arrest of Ganduje’s former commissioner of works in the case of alleged N1 billion contract fraud, clearly shows that the former governor is right when he seeks his protection and that of his family and political appointees.

Ubah, using sections 3, 2 and 5 of the protection of fundamental human rights asked the court to grant his order of protection of his client’s fundamental human rights.

However, Falana insisted that in the relief 3 declaration in the application which sight intimidation, harassment, and arrest, the counsel to the applicant is only saying Ganduje is not accountable to the people of Kano.

“The reliefs 2,3,4 are not grantable because the people are seeking to be protected are not known to the court and do not protect a right that is not been violated,” he said

While responding Justice Liman said the narrowest thing in the whole of the matter is to show why the applicant should not be arrested, asking the Counsel to deal with the matter at stake.

He then adjourned to 22 September 2023 to deliver Judgement on the matter of fundamental human rights.

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