A Kano State Magistrate Court has ordered the remand of former Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Muazu Magaji, in Kano Correctional Centre.
Magaji, who is standing trial on four counts bordering on criminal defamation of character against Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
He was ordered to remain in the detention of the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID after his bail application was denied.
He is accused of posting an image on his Facebook page where Ganduje was having intimate chat with a female in his office, an act, the complainer alleged, was capable of portraying Ganduje as an immoral and ungodly man.
Magaji was first arraigned last Friday, but the hearing on Monday was stalled due to his sudden inability to hear and speak at the court.
When he was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Aminu Gabari, at Court 58, Magaji pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him.
After denying the charges, the prosecution counsel, Wada Ahmed Wada, filed an oral application, asking for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to present witnesses before the court.
In his reaction, the defence counsel, Ghazali Datti Ahmed, who did not oppose the prosecution’s application, however, moved a bail application for his client, citing Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
The defence lawyer also called the attention of the court to the health conditions of the suspect as part of the justification for the bail application.
In his reaction, the prosecution lawyer asked the court to dismiss the defence application, arguing that Magaji had not shown concrete and sufficient medical evidence to back the claim of his health condition.
Wada also urged the court to deny the bail application, considering the gravity, strength and frequency of the offence.
In his ruling, Gabari declined all the pleas of the defence.
The court directed that Magaji be remanded at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), where the medical services of the police will attend to his health challenges.
The case was adjourned till February 3, 2022, when the case will resume for hearing.
