Following the demand for the arrest of the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Kano Central District, Abdulsalam Abdulkarim by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, a group has challenged the anticorruption group to allow the Supreme Court make final verdict on the matter before it.
The group, AA Zaura Campaign Organisation, rooting for the senatorial ambition of the APC candidate, said the EFCC should allow the Supreme Court take final decision in order to avert infractions.
The organization said this on Tuesday at a press conference in Abuja.
According to the spokesperson of the campaign organization, Ibrahim Garba, contrary to what a section of the media, Abdulkarim is not evading court procedure and therefore appeal to the media to ask the right questions in order to establish facts.
The group also appealed to the EFCC for “fair hearing on the matter so that a proper investigation is done so as not to ridicule the process because of his hard-earned reputation which was earned through hard work many years now.
“We have seen how great people are made and we also have seen how great institutions collapse for lack of self-evaluation, our only appeal to the EFCC is that they should meet us at the Supreme Court to test the law to avert infractions.”
It stated further that Abdulkarim “does not believe in cutting corners because of his firm belief in the judiciary and has followed every process from the beginning up till the time the high court in Kano pronounce him innocent after all allegations. AA Zaura has no link with the charges brought forward. Our legal team on the other hand has been attending all court processes and has since filed a similar petition to the Supreme Court for further hearing on the matter.”
The group insisted that his decision to contest in the 2023 elections “attracted enemies from opponents because he came to change the narratives.”
The EFCC had accused Abdulkarim of defrauding a Kuwaiti national of $1.3 million under the pretext of procuring real estate for him in Dubai, Kuwait. However, on 9 June, 2020, Lewis Allagoa, a judge of the Federal High Court in Kano found the defendant not guilty and discharged him on all counts.
Allagoa ruled against the anti-graft agency. He held that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
