The Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting at the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Zaria, Kaduna State, has ordered a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Sani Sha’aban, to repay the loan of $709,238 and N11.2 million to Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi.
The presiding judge, Alhaji I’shaq Madahu, who delivered the judgement, ordered the confiscation of the property of Sha’aban, which was used as collateral for the loan.
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The court also ordered an immediate search for buyers of the attached property to liquidate the loan, emphasising that if the value of the attached property exceeds the loan amount, the balance should be returned to the respondent (Sha’aban).
The court further ordered that Sha’aban should also provide the balance if the value of the property is not up to the loan amount.
Meanwhile, counsel to the plaintiff, Kabir Momoh, has expressed satisfaction with the judgment, while counsel to the defendant, Nasir Sa’id, said he was not briefed by his client to speak to the press on the matter.
The loan agreement was signed in 2018 between Hon. Sani Mahmud Shaaban (Dan Duran Zazzau) and Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi to secure his release from a problem he had in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) in the same year.
The agreement, which was drafted by Shaaban’s lawyer, who also witnessed it, and his son signed on his behalf initially, but on his return to Nigeria, Shaaban counter-signed. The agreement was written in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence, and it had a time limit of six months for redemption.
Therefore, on December 5, 2022, the then Kaduna State gubernatorial aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Sani Sha’aban, was dragged to Upper Shari’a Court 1 Zaria, over the non-repayment of the loan.
The plaintiff (Abdullahi), through his counsel, had prayed for an order of the court to sell landed property of the defendant to recover the balance of the loan.
He also prayed for an order of the court to sell other properties of Sha’aban, who was also a former member representing Zaria federal constituency, in the event the collateral attached to the loan agreement failed to cover the money.
According to him, property known as No. 48 Yusuf Road off Hadejiya Road, Bampai Kano, Kano State, with conveyance approval No.009234, was attached as collateral for the loan.
Other property attached as collateral for the loan agreement were land and a structure known as Mazari Ltd. along the Kano-Kaduna express road with C of O KD 6246, Zaria, Kaduna State.
“Land and structure known as Tulips by MTD Junction by Queen Elizabeth Road, Government Reserved Area (GRA), Zaria, Kaduna State. Also, land and structure at Circular Road, GRA, Zaria with C of O No. KD11226 and land and structure known as behind Sani Sha’aban’s main residence opposite Therbow Schools, GRA, Zaria, with C of O no. 3964” he said.
The counsel also said the agreement provides that the defendant will also pay the Naira in Naira while dollars will be paid back in US dollars.
Since the agreement in 2018, the defendant has only repaid $265,762 in three instalments, as the plaintiff has waited for six years and the money was not paid back.