Ex-Gov. Lamido defeats Jigawa govt in court

The state government filed the four-count charge of inciting disturbance, disturbance of public peace, defamation of character and criminal intimidation against Mr Lamido last year. Mr Lamido was initially dragged before a Magistrate Court in Dutse, the state capital. But the defence counsel, Yakubu Ruba, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear and determined the changes. He said the action was not initiated in accordance to the provision of section 141 of the Criminal Penal Code Law of the state. The Magistrate, Usman Mohammed Lamin, overruled the submission of Mr Ruba, insisting there was no violation of laid down procedure. But the defence filed an appeal before the state High Court and asked the Magistrate court to adjourn the case pending the determination of the appeal. In their judgement, on Wednesday, Justices Ahmed Gumel, Umar Sadiq and Abdulhadi Suleman, who sat as a panel of judges of the State High Court, set aside all the charges against Mr Lamido. The former governor was arraigned over remarks he made at a political rally in Dutse in 2017, which were interpreted as inciting his supporters to violence. At the rally, Mr Lamido was alleged to have said: “Before the election, I will make every one of you swear with his life to protect our cause. No matter what, I will not listen to you for complaining. All I want is to come for your bail in the police station for breaking another person’s head or you fought someone because the administration belongs to mad people.” Bello Zaki, the spokesperson for Jigawa state governor, said the state government would not appeal the ruling.]]>