Court remands Muaz Magaji for criminal defamation against Ganduje

A Kano Magistrate Court sitting in No-man’s-land on Friday remanded former Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Muaz Magaji for alleged criminal defamation against Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

Magaji, a public affairs analyst and deviant critics of Kano State government, was earlier arrested in Abuja on Thursday night by security operatives and brought to Kano for arraignment, the spokesperson of Kano Police Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa told journalists on Friday.

However, the plan arraignment before Magistrate Aminu Gabari of court no. 58 stalled after Muaz’s lawyer, Gazhali Datti Ahmad, raised concern about the health of his client.

Earlier, the principal state counsel, Barr. Wada Ahmed Wada, presented a four count charges before the court bordering on criminal defamation of character and inciting disturbance and disaffection against the personality of the state governor.

Wada, who is prosecuting the Police First Information Report, told the court that the commission of the said offenses and other related, are contrary to provision of section 114, 264 and 399 of the Kano State penal code.

The prosecution said the charges brought against the former Ganduje’s commissioner was sequel to complaints written by one Adekunle Taiye Falola, a legal practitioner and solicitor to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

According to Wada, the complainer had accused Magaji of character assassination, assault and international insult with the intent to provoke breach of peace and inciting disturbance and disaffection against his client.

Muaz was accused of posting an image on his Facebook page where Ganduje was having an intimate chat with a female in his office, an act, the complainer alleged was capable of portraying Ganduje as an immoral and ungodly man.

“The suspect posted a picture portraying our client as an immoral and ungodly man, who engaged in an extra- marital affairs with a strange woman whose face appeared in the said picture which has since circulated on social media, in a braze attempt to assassinate the character, good will and image of our client.”

The counsel to Ganduje had asked the court to investigate the allegations and take appropriate action in line with the provision of the penal code as cited.

Meanwhile, the matter could not continued because of the ill-health of the suspect, as claimed by his lawyer. The defense counsel, Barr. Gazhali told the court that his client could not talk or hear all the charges against him because of the impact of the accident he had on Thursday in Abuja.

However, Magistrate Gabari adjourned to Monday for arraignment while he ordered the suspect be remanded at the State Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) where he should be allowed to receive medical attention.