Alleged $1.3m Fraud: APC senatorial candidate, A.A Zaura loses bid to stop trial
The Supreme Court has ruled that Kano Central Senatorial Candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC) Abdulsalam Abdulkarim, also known as A.A Zaura, should appear before the Federal High Court in Kano to face the charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The court gave the order through A.A Zaura counsel, Barr. I.G Waru on Thursday, in Abuja.
The apex court also struck out the two applications to stop the federal high court from trying A.A Zaura.
The appellant filed two applications before the Supreme Court.
According to the court record, one application seeks for interim injunction and the other one for interlocutory injunction asking the Supreme Court to restrain the Federal High Court Kano presided by Justice M. N Yunusa from taking any step in the case pending the hearing of his appeal at the Supreme Court.
Read Also: ICPC investigates N355m constituency projects in Sokoto State
SOLACEBASE recalls that Abdulsalam Sale Abdulkarim is accused by the Commission of defrauding a Kuwaiti Citizen by obtaining the sum of $1,320,000 (One Million Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand Dollars) under the pretext that he is in the business of building properties in Dubai, Kuwait and other Arab countries.
He was subsequently arraigned before a Federal High Court in Kano presided by Justice Louis Allagoa.
On the 9th June 2020, Justice Allagoa found the defendant not guilty and discharged him on all counts.
Dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, counsel representing the prosecution Musa Isah took the matter to court of appeal in a bid to overturn the judgment of the trial court.
Consequently, in a unanimous decision by three man panel and delivered by Justice Abdullahi M. Bayero, the judgment of the Federal High Court was set aside.
Bayero also ordered that the defendant be tried afresh by a different judge other than Justice Allagoa.
With the development, A.A Zaura rushed to the Supreme Court asking the apex court to upturn the judgement of the Appeal Court.
The case was subsequently assigned to Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa, Kano Federal High Court for retrial and it was initially set to commence on the 31st of October, 2022 but since then Zaura has been playing hide and seek by consistently refusing to appear before the court on three occasions.
At the apex court sitting on Thursday, however, when the matter was mentioned, the five man panel of justices presided by Justice Inyang Okoro told the counsel to the appellant I.G Waru that the matter is a criminal case and the Supreme Court does not have power under the law to stay proceedings in criminal matter.
As such, the court asked the counsel to A.A. Zaura to withdraw his applications.
Both applications were withdrawn and same were struck off following no objection from the EFCC counsel, Musa Isah.
Comments are closed.