The federal high court sitting in Kano has ordered the Jigawa state government to halt its investigation into the alleged misconduct of the N1.7 billion World Bank intervention fund for the COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Stimulation Programme (J-CARES) in the state.
According to the interim injunction order issued by the court, the Jigawa state government is restrained from taking any further steps in the investigation of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Stimulation Programme (J-CARES) funds received from the World Bank.
This order came following a case brought before the court by Alhaji Aminu Isa Ringim, the former project coordinator of FADAMA III in Jigawa state, who challenged the constitution of an investigation committee by the state government to probe the alleged misconduct of the J-Cares intervention fund under the FADAMA project in the state.
Alhaji Aminu Isah Ringim sought the court’s intervention, alleging that the Jigawa state government did not afford him a fair hearing on the matter. He prayed for the court to restrain the state government from using the committee’s reports until he was given a fair hearing.
In his ruling, Justice Isa Liman of the federal high court granted an interim injunction restraining the Jigawa state government from publishing, gazetting, taking any action, or extracting a “White Paper” from the committee report. The judge stated that these restrictions shall be complied with until the court determines the matter regarding a fair hearing and other concerns expressed by the complainant.
It is worth noting that the state governor, Malam Umar Namadi, had ordered a full investigation into the implementation of the J-CARES FADAMA intervention following allegations of misappropriation of funds allocated to the sector.
When contacted about the interim injunction, the Jigawa state Attorney General, Barrister Bello Abdulkadir Fanini, stated that they had not yet received the injunction, which has a one-week lifespan. He added that, as soon as they receive it, they will study it and respond accordingly.
