A federal high court sitting in Kaduna has quashed and dismissed a defamation suit filed by the immediate past governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai against Shehu Sani, a former Senator that represented Kaduna Central at the upper chamber.
El-Rufai had approached the court seeking N2 billion in damages over comments credited to the former lawmaker.
In the suit filed five years ago, 2018, the former governor said Sani defamed him by referring to him as a “drunk, loose cannon and an embarrassment to President Muhammadu Buhari.”
He claimed that Sani’s statements are totally false and injurious to his person in the eyes of the public.
Giving his verdict on Thursday, H.A.L Balogun, the presiding judge, said the suit is an abuse of court processes.
Balogun added that the same case was filed by El-Rufai in different courts in the state.
When hearing in the case began, Kimi Livingstone Appah, counsel to Sani, had drawn the attention of the court to the fact that the former governor filed the same case in four different courts in the state.
The judge agreed with Appah’s preliminary objection and dismissed the case.
Speaking with reporters after the verdict was given, Appah said: “This is a victory for democracy and freedom of expression”.
Recall that there is no love lost between El-Rufai and the Senator Sani, as the duo have been at loggerheads over issues bordering on Kaduna politics.
