A former member of the House of Representatives from Kaduna State, Mahmood Sani Sha’aban, has suffered a major legal setback after a Kaduna State High Court ordered the auction of several of his properties over a longstanding debt dispute.

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit of the Kaduna State High Court carried out the auction process on Monday, June 1, 2026, following court orders arising from a case involving businessman Umar Faruk Abdullahi.

Among the properties affected are the land and structure located behind Sha’aban’s residence opposite Therbow Secondary School, Zaria, with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 3984, as well as land and structures at Plot No. 3 Churchill Road, GRA Zaria, with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 11226.

Other properties include land and structures at Tulips, MTD Junction, along Queen Elizabeth Road, GRA Zaria, with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 15052, and Mazari Nails Limited situated along the Kaduna-Kano Expressway with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 6246.

The dispute stemmed from a loan agreement reportedly entered into in 2018 between Sha’aban, also known as Dan Buran Zazzau, and businessman Abdullahi.

According to court records, the loan was allegedly granted to assist Sha’aban during a period involving his arrest and detention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the same year.

The judgment creditor was said to have advanced a total sum of $1 million and N11.2 million to Sha’aban under an interest-free arrangement based on Islamic financial principles.

The agreement was reportedly drafted and witnessed by Sha’aban’s lawyers, signed initially by his son and later countersigned by Sha’aban after his return from Dubai.

Although Sha’aban allegedly repaid $290,762, he was said to have failed to settle the outstanding balance of $709,238 alongside the N11.2 million owed.

Part of the agreement reportedly required the repayment to be completed within six months and in the same currency in which the loan was issued.

On February 12, 2024, Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting in Zaria ordered Sha’aban, who was also a former Kaduna State governorship aspirant, to repay the outstanding debt to Abdullahi.

The court further ordered the confiscation of properties used as collateral for the loan.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Sha’aban filed an appeal before the Kaduna State Sharia Court of Appeal on February 13, 2024, alongside an application for stay of execution.

However, both the Upper Sharia Court and the Sharia Court of Appeal dismissed the application.

Sha’aban subsequently approached the appellate division of the Kaduna State High Court in Kaduna but again lost the case.

On September 29, 2025, the appellate division affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

A Certified True Copy of the ruling in Suit No. KDH/Z/12A/2024 showed that the court directed Sha’aban to pay the entire judgment sum in both naira and dollars to the Chief Registrar of the Kaduna State High Court.

The panel, led by Justice Bilkisu Mohammed and Justice Nana Fatima Mohammed, held that monetary judgments are generally enforceable unless the applicant can prove that the judgment creditor would be incapable of refunding the money if the appeal succeeds.

“There is nothing before us to suggest that the respondent is impecunious and unable to refund the judgment sum should the appeal succeed,” the court ruled.

The judges added that although courts are often reluctant to deny a successful litigant the fruits of judgment, the conditional stay earlier granted was done in the interest of justice.