THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered a fresh hearing in the legal battle over the disputed Kano Emirate involving Ado Bayero.
A three-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Mustapha held that the judgment delivered by the lower court on July 15 is a nullity, as the appellants’ rights to a fair hearing were breached.
The appellate court held that Bayero was denied a fair hearing due to how a Kano High Court conducted proceedings against him.
The court stated that the Kano High Court was unfair to Bayero by conducting proceedings without serving him a hearing notice to enable him to present his case.
Justice Mustapha held that all courts of law are bound to ensure justice for all parties by giving them equal opportunities, adding that the conduct of the proceedings against Bayero amounted to a travesty of justice.
The Court of Appeal, therefore, ordered that the case be remitted to the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court to be reassigned to another judge for expeditious determination.
The court while determining one of the issues raised by the appellant, which has to do with a fair hearing, held that the appellant should have been notified and allowed access to counsel after his lawyer withdrew from the matter during proceedings on July 4, 2024, instead, the court continued to hear the matter without proper notification where necessary.
The court held that such action amounts to a nullity of the entire proceedings that took place on the said day.
The appellate court therefore upheld the the appeal on the issue of a fair hearing in favour of the appellant.
According to the court, having put to rest the issues of fair hearing, there was no need to go into other matters for determination, as the issue of fair hearing having been determined supersedes other matters raised.
The appellate court however did not award costs against the respondents in the appeal filed by Ado Bayero.
