An aide to former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has been remanded in a correctional facility over a Facebook post considered offensive to the current State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu.
The aide, identified as Shafiu Umar, allegedly sharing a video, mocking Governor Aliyu’s struggle to construct a sentence in English and also circulated the governor’s secondary school leaving certificate, claiming he failed English.
Umar also allegedly posted a video that appeared to show the state governor’s wife, Fatima, spraying money on the ground during her birthday celebration.
These actions led to charges of circulating injurious falsehood and defamation under the Penal Code law.
On Monday, Magistrate Fatima Hassan ordered Umar’s remand and barred reporters from covering the court proceedings.
Reports say the police First Information Report (FIR) indicated that the government charged Umar with circulating injurious falsehood and engraving matter known to be defamatory, offences, the government said contravened the Penal Code law.
FIR alleged that the accused person committed the offences sometime in July by sharing videos of the governor’s wife, Fatima Aliyu, spreading money on ground during her birthday ceremony.
The magistrate adjourned the ruling on Umar’s bail application until September 6, leaving him in custody until then.
Umar’s lawyer, Yusuf Abubakar, indicated that his client denied the charges and made an oral application for bail, which will be addressed during the next court session.
Earlier, the Peoples’ Democratic Party in the state, condemned the arrest of the suspect by authorities of Nigerian Police Force in Sokoto while calling for his immediate release.
