Katsina State’s former Governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, on Tuesday was arraigned along with three high ranking members of his administration for criminal charges and freed by the Katsina State High court.
Ibrahim Shehu Shema
The much publicized arraignment of state’s PDP leader and Lawal Ahmed Safana, Ibrahim Lawal Dankaba and Sani Hamisu Makana – suffered a setback as they challenged the jurisdiction of the court and competence of the criminal charges against them while standing outside the dock.
Their lead counsel, Joseph B. Daudu, SAN, kick started the proceedings when he informed the court that Shema and other accused persons were in court to respond to his lordship’s summon, having filed a motion on January 4th, 2017, genuinely attacking the competence of the charges before the court.
Daudu further told the court that he was served with a counter affidavit in response to their motion barely two minutes before the sitting commenced.
Responding, the lead prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, said since the accused persons were present and they confirmed that they have read the charges against them; the court should order their remand in prison custody until all applications in the matter were determined.
When the court reconvened, the judge ruled that the status quo should remain, thus the way the accused persons freely came to the court should be same way they would freely return on 7th February, 2017, for their counsel to argue the motion on jurisdiction.
