The National Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Kano has awarded a cost of N1 million against the Kano State Government in a suit filed by five former commissioners challenging the retrieval of their official vehicles.
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The presiding judge, Justice Mahmood Abba Namtari, awarded N200,000 each to the five applicants after the state government failed to proceed with the matter as scheduled.
The applicants are Dr Yusuf Ibrahim K/Mata, former Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation; AVM Ibrahim Umar (rtd), former Commissioner for Internal Security; Nasir Sule Garo, former Commissioner for Special Duties; Adamu Aliyu Kibiya, former Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation; and Mustapha Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, former Commissioner for Youth.
Earlier, on March 2, 2026, Justice Namtari declined an interlocutory application filed by the applicants seeking to restrain the state government from retrieving their official vehicles following their resignation, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
Instead, the court directed the applicants to put the defendants—including the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Kano State, the Governor of Kano State, and the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti‑Corruption Commission—on notice for a hearing scheduled for March 10, 2026.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, counsel to the applicants, Suraj Sa’ed (SAN), informed the court that his clients were ready to proceed with the interlocutory application.
However, counsel to the defendants, S. U. Jibril, told the court he was unable to proceed, explaining that he had only recently taken over the case. He requested an adjournment to enable him to properly file and organise the necessary processes before the next hearing.
Dissatisfied with the explanation, the applicants’ counsel argued that the government’s lawyer had no justification for further delaying the case, noting that the defendants had been served with court processes since February 27, 2026.
Although he did not oppose the request for adjournment, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria demanded N5 million in costs for what he described as a waste of the court’s valuable time.
In his ruling, Justice Namtari awarded N1 million in costs against the Kano State Government—rather than the N5 million requested—and adjourned the matter to April 28, 2026, for the hearing of the interlocutory application.
In the suit filed before the court, the applicants argued that upon their appointments to the Kano State Executive Council, they were allocated official vehicles as part of their conditions of service.
They stated that the ex parte application was filed pursuant to Order 17 Rule 1 of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017.
The former commissioners also contended that, by convention and in line with determinations by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, commissioners are entitled to retain such vehicles at the end of their tenure.
According to affidavits filed in support of the application, the applicants resigned their appointments in January 2026 but later received letters from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government directing them to return all official vehicles in their possession.
They added that separate communications from the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission warned that failure to comply could lead to enforcement measures to recover government property.
The applicants, therefore, urged the court to grant their request in the interest of justice, arguing that the balance of convenience favoured them.
However, the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission had earlier announced that it recovered the vehicles from the former commissioners who resigned from the state executive council.
The chairman of the commission, Sa’idu Yahaya, who led the operation, told journalists that the recovery exercise followed formal complaints and notification from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, the custodian of all government vehicles.
Yahaya also alleged that some of the former commissioners had sold the official vehicles shortly after leaving office.
“Government assets are not personal property. Once an official leaves office, all government vehicles and assets in their custody must be returned immediately,” he said.
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