The Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting at GRA Zaria, Kaduna State, has ordered former House of Representatives Member, Hon. Sani Sha’aban, to repay a loan in the sums of $709,238 and N11.2 million to Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi.
The presiding judge, Alhaji I’shaq Madahu, also ordered the confiscation of the property of Hon. Sha’aban used as collateral for the loan.
Sha’aban, an in-law to the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari and also the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Kaduna State, was House of Representatives Member from Zaria Constituency between 2003 and 2007.
Furthermore, the court ordered the immediate search for buyers of the attached properties to liquidate the loan, emphasising that in the event the value of the attached properties exceeds the loan amount, the balance should be returned to the respondent (Sha’aban).
The court further ordered that Sha’aban should provide balance if the value of the property was not up to the loan amount.
Counsel to the Plaintiff, Kabir Momoh, expressed satisfaction with the judgment while counsel to the defendant Nasir Sa’id said he was not asked by his client to speak to the press on the matter.
It will be recalled that the loan agreement was signed in 2018 between Shaaban (Dan Duran Zazzau) and Abdullahi to secure his release from a problem he had in Dubai UAE in the same year.
The agreement which was drafted by Hon. Shaaban’s lawyer who also witnessed and his son signed on his behalf initially and on his return to Nigeria he (Hon. Shaaban) also counter signed, was written in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence and had six months for redemption.
Therefore on December 5, 2022, Sha’aban was dragged to Upper Shari’a Court 1 Zaria, over non-repayment of the loan.
The plaintiff, Abdullahi, through his counsel, had prayed for an order of the court to sell landed properties of the defendant to recover the balance of the loan.
He also prayed for an order of the court to sell other properties of Hon. Sha’aban, who is also a former member representing Zaria federal constituency in the event the collateral attached to the loan agreement failed to recover the money.
According to him, the property known as No. 48 Yusuf Road, off Hadejiya Road, Bampai, Kano, Kano State with conveyance of approval No.009234 was attached as collateral for the loan.
Other properties attached as collateral for the loan agreement were land and structure known as Mazari Ltd, along Kano-Kaduna Expressway with C of O KD 6246, Zaria, Kaduna State.
“Land and structure known as Tulips by MTD Junction, by Queen Elizabeth Road, 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 in 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 the dollars would be paid back in US dollars.
Since the agreement in 2018, the defendant has only repaid $265,762 in three installments, as the plaintiff had waited for six years and the money was not paid back.
