A Kano State High Court has postponed until April 15 the corruption trial of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, his wife Hafsat Umar, and their son Abdullahi Umar, along with five other defendants, over alleged diversion of public funds running into billions of naira.
The defendants are facing an 11-count charge bordering on bribery, conspiracy, misappropriation, and unlawful diversion of public funds. The other accused include Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd, and Lasage General Enterprises Ltd.
At the resumed hearing, the prosecution announced readiness to proceed and drew the court’s attention to a motion dated November 24, 2025, seeking permission to file additional proof of evidence.
However, defence counsel objected, insisting that several pending applications must be resolved before the trial could continue. Lydia Oluwakemi-Oyewo, counsel to some defendants, disclosed that the defence had filed a motion on July 17, 2025, seeking a stay of proceedings. Adekunle Taiye-Falola, representing the third and seventh defendants, also cited a separate motion dated May 23, 2025.
Muhammad Shehu, counsel to the fifth defendant, informed the court that an affidavit had been filed notifying it of a pending application for stay of proceedings before the Court of Appeal. Abubakar Ahmad, representing the sixth defendant, added that he had filed a notice of preliminary objection and an application for extension of time to respond on points of law, urging the court to fix a date for hearing.
Only Faruk Asekome, counsel to the eighth defendant, expressed readiness to proceed with the trial.
After listening to arguments from both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, adjourned the case to April 15 for hearing of all pending applications and preliminary objections.
The trial has faced repeated delays due to legal challenges. Although the High Court had earlier dismissed preliminary objections by the defence and affirmed its jurisdiction, the defendants appealed the ruling. In October 2025, the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal struck out the appeal for failure to properly transmit the record of appeal.
