APC Candidate to Be Tried for ‘Defrauding Kuwait Citizen of $1.3m’

Abdulsalam Sale Abdulkarim, the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Kano Central, has lost his bid to stop his $1.3 million corruption trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed this on Friday. Abdulkarim, also known as A. A. Kaura, had applied twice to the Supreme Court to stop the Federal Court in Kano from trying him but the court struck out his applications on Thursday.

The EFCC had accused Abdulkarim of duping a Kuwaiti of $1,320,000. Pretending to be in the business of building properties in Dubai and Kuwait, said the EFCC, Abdulkarim defrauded his victim.

“On the 9th of June 2020, Justice A.L Allagoa dismissed the charges against Zaura. But dissatisfied at the ruling, the prosecution proceeded to the Appellate Court in Kano. The Appeal Court in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel, delivered by Justice Abdullahi M. Bayero, set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court and ordered that the defendant be tried afresh by a different judge,” EFCC’s statement read in part.

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“The case was subsequently assigned to Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa for retrial and arraignment fixed for 31st of October, 2022.

“But since then, Zaura has been playing hide and seek by refusing to appear before the court on three occasions.

“Instead of appearing for arraignment, he headed for the apex court with two applications, one seeking for interim injunction and the other for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the Federal High Court Kano from taking any step in the case pending the hearing of his appeal at the Supreme Court.

“However, when the matter was mentioned on Thursday, the five-man panel of justices led by Justice Inyang Okoro ruled that the Supreme Court has no power under the law to stay proceedings in a criminal matter. The court advised the applicant to withdraw the applications. Both applications were withdrawn and the same struck out, with no objection from the respondent’s counsel, l Musa Isah.”

The Supreme Court has now ordered Abdulkarim to appear before the Federal High Court, Kano, to face the corruption charges the EFCC has levelled against him.FIJ