The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit, Kaduna State High Court, on Wednesday auctioned landed property belonging to a former member of the House of Representatives, Mahmood Sha’aban.

The auction is in execution of a court judgement over a long-standing debt dispute with businessman Umar-Faruk Abdullahi.

The property auctioned by the court include the land and structure behind the Sha’aban’s main residence opposite Therbow Secondary School, Zaria, covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 3984.

Others are land and structures on Plot No. 3 Churchill Road GRA Zaria with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 11226.

The land and structures on Tulips, MTD Junction by Queen Elizabeth Road, GRA Zaria, have Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 15052.

Mazari Nails Limited along the Kaduna-Kano expressway with a certificate of occupancy No. KD 6246.

Speaking after the auction, Abdullahi Yahaya, SAN, counsel for the judgement creditor, said the business of the day was for the auction/sale of the property of the judgement debtor as ordered in the judgement of Upper Sharia Court 1, Zaria.

He added that the court confiscated five properties of the judgement debtor (four of such properties were in Zaria, while one was in Kano).

“So far we have auctioned the properties located in Zaria, and the remaining property in Kano will be done in due course,” Mr Yahaya said.

The case was hinged on a loan agreement signed in 2018 by Mr Sha’aban (Dan Buran Zazzau) and Mr Yahaya to secure his release in a matter involving arrest and detention in prison custody in Dubai (UAE) in the same year.

A total amount of $1 million and N11.2 million was given to Mr Sha’aban by the judgement creditor on loan (without interest) under strict Islamic law.

The loan agreement was drafted and witnessed by Mr Sha’aban’s lawyers and signed by his son, and later on, on his return from prison, he countersigned in acceptance.

Mr Sha’aban had already paid $290,762 out of the $1 million loan, and he later declined to pay the remaining balance.

Part of the conditions for the loan agreement was the redemption of the loan within six months and with the same currency as he was paid.

On February 12, 2024, the Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting in GRA, Zaria, ordered Sani Sha’aban, who is also a former Kaduna State governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, to repay loans of $709,238 and N11.2 million to Umar-Faruk Abdullahi.

The court ordered the confiscation of the property of Mr Sha’aban used as collateral for the loans.

Mr Sha’aban, dissatisfied with the judgement, filed eight grounds of appeal before the Sharia Court of Appeal, Kaduna, on February 13.

He also filed an application for stay of execution which was dismissed by the Upper Sharia Court GRA Zaria and the Sharia Court of Appeal Kaduna.

He then rushed again to the appellate division of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna, where he also lost; the appellate division of the Kaduna State High Court, on September 29, 2025, affirmed the judgement of the lower court.

A certified true copy of the ruling of the High Court in Suit No. KDH/Z/12A/2024 obtained by our correspondent indicated that the court ordered Mr Sha’aban (the judgement debtor) to pay the entire judgement sum both in naira and dollars to the chief registrar of the Kaduna State High Court.

The panel, led by Justice Bilkisu Mohammed and Justice Nana-Fatima Mohammed, held that monetary judgements are generally enforceable unless an applicant proves that the judgement creditor is incapable of refunding the money if the appeal succeeds.

“There is nothing before us to suggest that the respondent is impecunious and unable to refund the judgement sum should the appeal succeed,” the court ruled.

The judges added that while courts are usually reluctant to deny a successful litigant the fruits of judgement, the conditional stay was granted in the interest of justice.

The ruling effectively preserves the judgement sum while allowing enforcement measures tied to the debt recovery process to proceed under the court’s supervision.

In a related development, Umar F. Abdullahi, the judgement creditor, has obtained an order of the Kano State High Court granting leave to the judgement creditor for the enforcement of the Upper Sharia Court 1 GRA, Zaria, for the sale of the property of the judgement debtor.

The property situated at No. 48 Yuduf Road, off Hadejia Road, Bompai Kano, was part of the collateral for the loan.

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit of the Court fixed June 13 for the auction of the property in compliance with the order granted by Justice Faruk Lawan Adamu on May 4. 

(NAN)