By Ankeli Emmanuel (In Sokoto State)
Worried by the prolong delay in the release of the expected Sokoto State Judicial Commission of Inquiry's report, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has dragged the government to Court, insisting he must be given the outcome.
Tambuwal, who was the Speaker of the 7th National Assembly and immediate past governor of Sokoto instituted the case before the State High Court, demanding he be furnished with the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry constituted to investigate the activities of his administration between 2015 and 2023.
The suit seeking to compel the Sokoto State government to furnish Tambuwal with the inquiry outcome was instituted through his Counsel and numbered SS/133/2026 was instituted through his counsel, U.O. Sule, SAN, before Justice Mohammed Mohammed of the Sokoto State High Court 6.
The suit clearly seeks a judicial intervention over the alleged refusal or failure of the state government to make the commission’s report available to Tambuwal even after completing it's sittings for long.
Joined as defendants in the suit are Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Sokoto State, Barrister Nasiru Binji and the Sokoto State Commission of Inquiry itself.
Recall that Sokoto State government under the leadership of current governor Ahmed Aliyuhl had set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to examine the administration of Tambuwal as governor of Sokoto between 2015 to 2023.
The commission was chaired by a former Chief Judge of Gombe State, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga, and was mandated to examine various activities and transactions of the Aminu Waziri Tambuwal led administration during its eight-year tenure.
On the strength of that, however, Tambuwal is challenging what he considers the failure of the relevant authorities to furnish him with the commission’s report, despite the conclusion of its proceedings.
In the suit, the former governor is asking the court to intervene and compel the defendants to provide him with the report of the commission, which he considers necessary for him to know the findings and conclusions reached after the proceedings.
As the Court fixed 9th of November for hearing, the case is also expected to amongst others things test the legal obligations of a government that constitutes a judicial commission of inquiry, particularly regarding access to its findings by persons directly affected by the proceedings. NNL.
