By Moh Bello Habib, Zaria
The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna has rejected an application by Hon. Sani Sha’aban seeking to withdraw an appeal challenging a judgment ordering the sale of some of his properties in Kaduna and Kano to recover a debt owed to Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, counsel to Sha’aban, Abubakar A. Muhammad, Esq., applied to withdraw the appeal filed in September 2026 to enable his client to consider his next line of action.
However, counsel to Abdullahi, Abdullahi A. Yahaya, SAN, urged the court to reject the application, arguing that the same appeal had already been dismissed by the court in July following an earlier application and failure to comply with the applicable rules.
After hearing the parties, the three-member panel, comprising Hon. Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, Hon. Justice Abimbola Osarugue Obaseki-Adejumo and Hon. Justice Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu, rejected Sha’aban’s application.
The decision left in force the subsisting judgment directing recovery of the outstanding debt through the sale of the properties.
It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal in Kaduna and Kano had on four previous occasions upheld the judgment ordering the sale of the properties for debt recovery.
The latest ruling therefore marks the fifth time the judgment has been upheld in the proceedings, with the courts consistently rejecting arguments advanced by Sha’aban’s defence team.
The dispute arose from a 2018 loan agreement between Sha’aban and Abdullahi.
According to court documents, Abdullahi advanced $1 million and N11.2 million to Sha’aban as an interest-free loan to facilitate his release following his arrest and detention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the same year.
The agreement, which was drafted and witnessed by Sha’aban’s lawyers, was initially executed by his son and subsequently countersigned by Sha’aban after his return from Dubai.
The loan was repayable within six months and in the same currencies in which it was disbursed.
Although Sha’aban subsequently repaid $290,762, he allegedly failed to settle the outstanding balance, resulting in legal proceedings that culminated in enforcement orders by the High Courts of Kaduna and Kano states.
The enforcement orders were subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.Key corrections made
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