Former Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, has dismissed the findings of a commission of inquiry set up by his successor to probe his administration, describing them as a “charade”.
Mr. Shema stated his position on the report of the panel through a press statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Oluwabusola Olawale.
“It is curious and unheard of that the Commission of Inquiry set up by Governor Aminu Bello Masari will flagrantly ignore the decision of Court of Appeal and notice of appeal to the Supreme Court and proceed to carry out a predetermined agenda of Governor Masari which clearly indicates that sadism, tyranny, dictatorship and blatant abuse of rule of law and court process are the order of the day in the state,” Mr. Olawale said.
“We therefore reject this charade, scandalous, unlawful, callous and unjustified rape on our democracy and Rule of Law, and we will not accept the outcome of this wicked manipulations,” he added.
Mr. Olawale said the Court of Appeal had previously disbanded the commission because Mr. Masari did not follow due process and principles of transparency in choosing the chairman of the panel.
He circulated a letter written by Mr. Masari to his counterpart in Plateau State, Simon Lalong, in 2016, in which the Katsina governor requested for a specific judge from Plateau to lead the enquiry.
Mr. Olawale said the Court of Appeal’s decision to dissolve the panel was partly based on the decision of Mr. Masari to request a judge of his choice, describing it as an overt display of prejudice.
He further stated that the panel submitted its report on the same day it first sat, describing such development as the “strangest in the world.”
But Mr. Masari denied the allegations, telling PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday that the panel was never disbanded by the court of appeal.
The governor’s spokesperson, Abdul Labaran, said another court gave the panel the permission to go ahead with its activities.
Mr. Labaran said the panel members sat for more than a day before submitting their report.
He, however, failed to state for how long the panel actually sat despite repeated enquiries from this newspaper.
Mr. Masari set up a panel to investigate Mr. Shema as part of his administration’s efforts to probe the activities of his predecessor.
In September 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission declared Mr. Shema wanted on allegations of misappropriating up to N60 billion, including more than N50 billion in local government allocations.
Mr. Shema turned himself in a few days later, accusing Mr. Masari of being behind his ordeal because of their political differences.
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