Katsina Gov withdrew N11bn lawsuit against ex-Gov Shema, Chairman of ALGON

The Katsina State Government withdrew a N11 billion lawsuit it had brought before the state High Court against Ibrahim Shehu Shema, a former governor of the state, and Ibrahim Lawal Dankaba, a former chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

Abdulrahman Umar, the state’s director of public prosecution, told reporters Monday night at the Government House that the suit against the two defendants was dropped as a result of a nolle prosqui the state government had submitted to the court the previous day.
Shema was charged with criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, and conversion of public funds totaling more than N11 billion while he was the state’s governor in 2016 at the state High Court 3 before the late Justice Ibrahim Maikaita-Bako.

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He was brought before the court alongside Dankaba, the former ALGON chairman, Alhaji Sani Hamisu Makana, the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Lawai Rufai, and former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Sani Hamisu Makana.

Shema, who represented the state on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 2007 to 2015, however, pleaded not guilty to all of the accusations made against them by the administration of Governor Aminu Bello Masari.
Umar, during the media chat, said the court during the Monday’s proceedings accepted the Nolle Prosequi and discharged the erstwhile governor and Dankaba from all corruption charges instituted against them by the state government.
However, he clarified that the N5.7 billion embezzlement lawsuit brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Shema at the Federal High Court in Katsina is unaffected by the state government’s decision.

“We were in High Court number 3 where the trial of the former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, is being held today, Monday, February 13, 2023,” Umar said.
“We chose a nolle prosequi, which gives a state’s attorney general the authority to file a lawsuit or bring a criminal case against a person in Nigeria before a court of law, take over a criminal case already pending against a person, and end a case at any point before a verdict is rendered.

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“The attorney general used that authority, we complied, and the court gladly accepted the attorney general’s decision to end the case. The former governor and Lawal Dankaba were exonerated of all charges as a result. The state government currently holds that position, but the EFCC’s case is still pending.