A Kano State High Court has adjourned until April 15 the trial of former All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and seven other defendants over alleged misappropriation of public funds.
Ganduje, along with his wife, Hafsat Umar, and son, Abdullahi Umar, is facing an 11-count charge bordering on bribery, conspiracy, misappropriation and diversion of public funds running into billions of naira.
The other defendants in the case are Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd and Lasage General Enterprises Ltd.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the prosecution informed the court that it was ready to proceed with the trial and drew the court’s attention to a motion dated November 24, 2025, seeking permission to file additional proof of evidence against the defendants.
However, several defence counsel told the court that there were pending applications which must be resolved before the trial could continue.
Counsel to the defendants, Lydia Oluwakemi-Oyewo, said the defence had filed a motion dated July 17, 2025, seeking a stay of proceedings. In a similar vein, Adekunle Falola, representing the third and seventh defendants, referred the court to a separate motion dated May 23, 2025.
Muhammad Shehu, counsel to the fifth defendant, informed the court that an affidavit had been filed to notify it of a pending application for stay of proceedings before the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, Abubakar Ahmad, counsel to the sixth defendant, said he had filed a notice of preliminary objection and an application for extension of time to respond on points of law dated February 2, and requested that a hearing date be fixed. Counsel to the eighth defendant, Faruk Asekome, told the court he was ready to proceed.
After hearing submissions from both sides, the presiding judge, Amina Adamu-Aliyu, adjourned the matter until April 15 for the hearing of all pending applications and preliminary objections.
