Court Declines Jurisdiction in El-Rufai’s Suit

The Federal High Court in Kaduna has dismissed a suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, seeking to set aside the ad-hoc committee report of the Kaduna State House of Assembly. The court declined jurisdiction in the matter, citing lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and transferred the suit to the Kaduna State Chief Judge for determination by the High Court of Kaduna State.

El-Rufai had approached the court, seeking an order to set aside the proceedings of July 18, 2024, for lack of jurisdiction and non-compliance with extant laws and rules. He also sought an order fixing a date for the hearing of all pending applications. However, the court found that the applicant’s reasons for requesting an adjournment were not justified and dismissed the application for lacking merit.

The court also dismissed the application for the judge to recuse himself, citing a lack of cogent reasons or facts for the court to do so. The presiding judge, Justice R. M. Aikawa, held that the applicant had not been able to prove any of the circumstances listed in previous cases and therefore dismissed the application.

“In the present case, the applicant hinges his application on the decision of the court to proceed with the hearing of the matter even though he was absent and despite his letter to the registrar of the court requesting for adjournment. Counsel thinks that he was denied a fair hearing.

“The reasons why the matter proceeded even with the absence of counsel are available in the records of the court. In summary, the court was not satisfied with the reasons given in the request for adjournment and instead deemed the applicant’s processes as adopted as allowed by order 12 rule 3 of the FREPR.

“Adjournment is not for the asking. It has to be justified, and it is entirely at the discretion of the judge to grant or refuse. In the present case, the court exercised its discretion to refuse because there was no justifiable reason why it should be allowed.

“It is my view that the applicant has not been able to prove any of the circumstances listed in Bello’s case, supra as well as other cases. The application is therefore lacking in merit. It is accordingly dismissed,” the presiding judge held.

The suit, with number FHC/KD/CS/55/2024, was filed against the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Kaduna State. Femi Falana (SAN) and Sani Katu (SAN) represented the first respondent, while Sule Shuaibu (SAN), AG Kaduna State, and Jummai Danazumi represented the second respondent.

El-Rufai had in June 2024 urged the court to quash the report of the state House of Assembly indicting him of N423bn theft, claiming that the Assembly breached his right to a fair hearing by not inviting him in the course of the probe.