Court Remands Tambuwal’s Aide Over Alleged Defamatory Statements Against Sokoto Governor and Wife

An aide to former Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Shafi’u Tureta, has been remanded in prison pending the hearing of his bail application.

Tureta was arraigned for spreading media content termed injurious against the current Governor of the state Ahmad Aliyu

He was accused of circulating falsehood and defamatory content against the incumbent governor, offences said to contravene the Penal Code.

The accused person was said to have committed the offences on July 18, 2024, when he circulated the videos of the governor’s wife, Fatima Aliyu, spraying money during her birthday ceremony despite the hunger and hardship faced by citizens.

Tureta was also accused of sharing a document that indicated that the governor failed his Senior Secondary School Examination.

During Tureta’s arraignment at the Magistrate Court 1 on Monday, journalists were locked out on the orders of the trial judge, Fati Hassan.

Counsel for the accused Al’Mustafa Abubakar told newsmen that Tureta denied the charges and made an oral application for his bail.

The lawyer said the judge adjourned the ruling on the bail application to September 6, 2024, and remanded the accused person in correctional custody.

Alex Ogbonnaya