THE MEDIA LIED AND TOTALLY MISLED THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE TRUE CONTENT OF THE JUDGEMENT OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT DELIVERED ON THE 27TH OF MAY, 2025
By Sule Sheikh Umoru
Last week, the Nigerian Media Space (Conventional and Social) was awash with the news that the Federal High Court, sitting in Kaduna (Coram Honourable Justice H.Buhari), awarded the sum of 900,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred Million Naira) only against Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai (sued as the 1st Respondent) in the Fundamental Human Rights suit instituted by the Applicant, Awemi Dio Maisamari in March, 2024. Other Respondents in the matter were the Governor of Kaduna State, the Nigeria Police Force, Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State and the Attorney General of Kaduna State sued as the 2nd to the 6th Respondents, respectively.
When the news broke, it came as a shock to Our Client, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who maintained that he was hearing about the existence of the matter for the first time, given that he was not served with any of the processes filed in the matter neither was he served with any hearing notices. Be that as it may, he instructed us to obtain the Certified True Copies of the Judgement and other relevant documents from the Court with a view to appealing against the judgement or have same set aside by the Court. The judgement could not be obtained within time given the strike action declared by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) over the weekend. However, the judgement was obtained today being the 4th day of June, 2025 following the end of the industrial action by JUSUN.
We have critically studied the judgement delivered by Honourable Justice Buhari on the 27th day of May, 2025 and we CATEGORICALLY state that the Federal High Court, Coram Honourable Justice Buhari did not award the sum of 900,000,000(Nine Hundred Million Naira) nor any sums whatsoever against Mallam El-Rufai neither did it find Mallam El-Rufai responsible for the arrest and detention of the Applicant. In fact, the court expressly held at page 38 of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement that the Applicant failed to adduce any evidence in support of his assertion that the 1st Respondent, Mallam El-Rufai, ordered for his arrest. In the words of the court:
“The evidence before this Honourable Court reveals that the facts leading to the arrest of the Applicant occurred during the meeting of the 1st Respondent with the Adara Community where he said, referring to the Applicant, “you are part of the problem.” However, the Applicant ought to have adduced evidence to support the assertion that it was the 1st Respondent ordered (sic) his arrest through the agents of the 3rd to 5th Respondents. The Applicant did not adduce evidence to substantiate this claim.”
The court, having unmistakably held that the Applicant failed to substantiate his claims against the 1st Respondent (that the 1st Respondent ordered for his arrest)(even in his absence), could not have proceeded to granting any reliefs nor award any damages against Mallam El-Rufai. The Court ONLY granted reliefs and awarded damages against the 3rd to 5th Respondents. The entire reliefs granted by the Court are reproduced hereunder:
“The Court hereby grants:
1. Reliefs 1,2,6,9,10,18 and 19 against the 3rd-5th Respondents.
2. Relief 21 and 22 (jointly) being compensation of N10,000,000.00(Ten Million Naira) only granted against the 3rd -5th Respondents.
3. Relief 23 being General Damages in the sum of N10,000,000.00(Ten Million Naira) only against the 3rd -5th Respondents.
4. Relief 25 being the cost of filing the suit as per the payment evidence (receipts).”
The orders of the Honourable Court were without any form of equivocation or prevarication whatsoever and need no further interpretation. The court clearly absolved Mallam El-Rufai from all liabilities in the suit when it held that the Applicant failed to substantiate his claims against him. No sum of 900,000,000.00(Nine Hundred Million Naira) nor any sums whatsoever was awarded against Mallam El-Rufai. The reliefs, orders, sums and damages being peddled and bandied about by media houses and discussed on social media were not from the judgement of the Court and are clearly the handwork of mischief makers and their co-travellers who clearly have not read a single word from the judgement nor present in court when it was delivered.
Journalism is a serious business given the enormous responsibilities that our media houses bear. Our journalists and media houses should always strive to verify and cross-check information such as this before publishing same. If they are not present in court during the delivery of judgements, they must, as a matter of necessity, always ensure to obtain the CTCs of the judgements before reporting on them. Reporting falsely on judgements of court is not only an attack on the parties involved but impacts negatively on our courts and judiciary.
To clear all doubts, the CTC of the judgement is herein enclosed.
● Sheikh Umoru, Esq. is a Partner, A.U.Mustapha, and Co.and this statement is dated 4th June 2025.
