A Sokoto Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday admitted the Special Assistant to former Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Shafi’u Umar, to a N1 million bail.
The 37-year-old Umar is charged with alleged circulation of falsehood against Governor Ahmad Aliyu and his wife on social media.
He was also charged with engraving matters known to be defamatory.
The case was first mentioned on August 26, and the Police Prosecutor, Inspector Abdurahman Mansur, said the offence contravened the penal code law.
According to the First Information Report, the defendant committed the offence on July 18.
The Prosecution said the defendant circulated a video of the governor’s wife, Hajia Fatima Aliyu, “spraying” money during her birthday ceremony in spite of the present hardships faced by citizens.
Umar was also allegedly accused of sharing a document that indicated that Governor Aliyu failed his Senior Secondary School Examination, scored F9 and is incapable of speaking English.
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The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charge and remanded in correctional centre custody.
Ruling on the bail application filed by the lead Defence Counsel, Al’Mustafa Abubakar, the trial judge, Magistrate Fatima Hassan, granted Umar bail in the sum of N1 million with a surety in like sum.
Hassan ordered that the surety should be a resident of Sokoto and deposit his National Identity Card along with two copies of passport photographs in the court.
She adjourned the case to October 10, 2024 for further mention.
She urged the prosecution to complete their investigation as assured by Mansur.
She ordered that the defendant should be remanded in a correctional facility if he fails to complete the bail conditions.
The News Agency of Nigeria is reporting that before the adjournment, the Defence Counsel urged the Judge to take cognisance of three adjournments in the trial at the instance of police investigation and direct them to complete their findings as the law requires.
