 in Bauchi state, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubukar, SAN, has said that his recent){kind=link}
By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi
Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi state, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubukar, SAN, has said that his recent public statement credited to a name SHEHU was consistent with the provisions of the Constitution and did not violate any existing law.
The Senior Advocate, also former governor of the state, holds the expression that every citizen has the constitutional right to lodge complaint with the police, stressing that the Nigeria Police Force is empowered under the Constitution and the Police Act to receive and investigate petitions.
It could be recalled that the Bauchi APC guber candidate had in a recent political statement while receiving party supporters uttered that one shehu’s spending surpasses his earnings, thereby querying the source of his income.
However, the single name Shehu didn’t go well with cohorts of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) gubernatorial candidate in Bauchi, Senator Shehu Buba Umar, when his legal team led by Barrister Jibrin S. Jibrin lodged a complaint to that effect to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Rilwan Disu in Abuja.
The APC Bauchi gubernatorial candidate’s legal team led by Barrister Alkassim Mohammed at a press conference in Bauchi shed some lights to the public on his boss’s politically-inclined public statement on the uttered name, Shehu which he argued, can be refered to nobody, or anyone can be Shehu, which name being common in the society.
Barrister Alkassim Mohamm told the press at the Bauchi NUJ secretariat that, “Shehu was too general to identify any specific individual. Shehu is a common name borne by many Nigerians. Mentioning that name alone cannot reasonably be interpreted as referring to a particular person or constitute defamation,”
Lawyer Alkassim explained that the press briefing was not intended as a rebuttal to a petition reportedly filed against the formper governor, but to enlighten the public on the legal issues surrounding the matter, saying the single name Shehu cannot reasonably qualify a particular individual in a society where many have such inclinations in their names like Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi, and so forth
The lawyer also refered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act, saying the anti-graft agency has the statutory authority to investigate individuals whose lifestyle appears inconsistent with their legitimate earnings, even in the absence of a formal petition.
He further argued that the alleged defamatory statement cited in the petition merely mentioned the name Shehu which does not qualify any individual person, stressing “We have confidence in the rule of law and believe the matter will be resolved through the appropriate legal process,”
“So mentioning the name Shehu cannot constitute defamatory, because the name Shehu is not designed to a particular human being, many people have the inclination of the name SHEHU, we have Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi, why didn’t he petitioned Mohammed Abdullahi Abubukar SAN for defamation, why that Shehu the petitioner refered to, so these are issues of law that we believe the law will take it’s right course”.
Alkassim further recalled that on the 24th day of July, 2026, a colleague of his in the legal profession by name, Jibrin S. Jibrin made a public presentation regarding their complaints filed against Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, SAN, the gubernatorial flagbearer of APC in Bauchi state in the 2027 elections
“It is on this note that we see it as necessary to present to you, not as a counter response to their complaints, but rather to enlighten members of the public to know what is the contemplation of the law as regards to the statement made by His Excellency, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubukar, SAN in line with the extent laws of Nigeria”.
“Under the provision of section 39 and 45 of the Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), every citizen has the right to express himself without any bottleneck. However the expression under this provision has a limitation, in as much as the expression will not violate the rights of others”, the lawyer said.
“Even if you are not a citizen of Nigeria, once you are in Nigeria legally, you have the right to file a complaint before the police for investigation. Now in the course of investigation, the police are enjoined under such provisions to take cognisance of each and every statement made by the complainant”
Barrister Alkassim stated that as regards to their complaints, under the provisions of Nigerian laws and the Constitution, and the Police Act, particularly section 4 and section 66 of the Constitution has made it clear for the police to receive complaint filed by any citizen of Nigeria.
“I hope that the police will investigate this matter, they will place the statement made by Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, SAN in the context of the law, analyse, and see whether this complaint is even justifiable for them to even prosecute whoever they want to prosecute as regards to the complaint”.
Alkassim who expressed optimism that the complaint will be given maximum prominence in the course of investigation, drew the attention of general public on the provisions of the EFCC Act that gave Nigerians the leverage to file a complaint against anybody whom you suspected he cannot even account for his/her source of income.
“Now, under section 7 of the EFCC Act has made it clearly that this section has come to remain until contrary, that the EFCC on its own if suspected that your spending is more than what you earning, even without complaint, they can invite you to go and explain your source, how did you get this money. If you cannot explain you can be charged under section 10 of the money laundering act”.
Alkassim further stated, “And even if you are able to explain your source, they will even go further to ask you under section 28 whether you are paying your tax for the source. If you are not paying tax for that source, it also amount to financial malpractice under the law, so I urge our supporters on this note to stay calm, the police are going to investigate their complaints.
“The statement made by Mohammed Abdullahi Abubukar, SAN, is clear, he mentioned a name Shehu, but a name must be accompanied with the second one, or even third where necessary. There are two to three in a name, so you cannot claim a single name to be your own name. I have not seen such a claim through out my life”, he said.
Barrister Alkassim Mohammed concluded, “What Iam saying finally is people should stay calm, especially our supporters, this matter is going to be addressed in due course, we are only waiting the invitation of the police now, so that we move in, here in Bauchi or Abuja, we are ready to excort our principal”.
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