By MUSTAPHA YAURI

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit, Kaduna State High Court on Wednesday auctioned landed properties belonging to a former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Mahmood Sha’aban.

The auction is In execution of a court judgment over a longstanding debt dispute with businessman Umar-Faruk Abdullahi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the properties auctioned by the Court include the land and Structure behind the Sha’aban’s main residence opposite Therbow Secondary School Zaria covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 3984

Others are land and structures on plot No. 3 Churchill Road GRA Zaria with Certificate of Occupancy No KD 11226.

The land and structures on Tulips, MTD Junction by Queen Elizabeth Road GRA Zaria with Certificate of Occupancy No. KD 15052.

Mazari Nails Limited along Kaduna-Kano expressway with certificate of occupancy No. KD 6246.

Speaking to newsmen after the auction, Mr Abdullahi Yahaya, SAN, counsel for the judgment creditor said the business of the day was for the auction/sale of the properties of the judgment debtor as ordered in the judgment of Upper Sharia Court 1, Zaria.

He added that the Court confiscated five properties of the judgment debtor (four of such properties were in Zaria while one is in Kano).

“So far we have auctioned the properties located in Zaria and the remaining property in Kano would be done in due course,’’ Yahaya said.

NAN also reports that the case was hinged on a loan agreement which was signed in 2018 by Sha’aban (Dan Buran Zazzau), and Abdullahi to secure his release in a matter involving arrest and detention in prison custody in Dubai (UAE) in the same year.

A total amount of one million dollars and N11.2 million was given to Sha’aban by the Judgment Creditor on loan (without interest) under strict Islamic law.

The loan agreement was drafted and witnessed by Sha’aban’s lawyers and signed by his son and later on his return from prison he counter signed in acceptance.

Sha’aban had already paid 290,762 dollars out of the one-million-dollar loan and he later decline to pay the remaining balance.

Part of the conditions for the loan agreement was the redemption of the loan within six month and with the same currency as he was paid.

On Feb. 12, 2024 the Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting in GRA, Zaria ordered Sani Sha’aban,who is also a former Kaduna State gubernatorial aspirant under the APC, to repay loans of 709,238 dollars and N11.2 million to Alhaji Umar-Faruk Abdullahi.

The court ordered the confiscation of the properties of Sha’aban which were used as collateral for the loans.

Sha’aban, dissatisfied with the judgment, filed eight grounds of appeal before the Sharia Court of Appeal Kaduna on Feb. 13.

He also filed an application for stay of execution which was dismissed by the Upper Sharia Court GRA Zaria and the Sharia Court of Appeal Kaduna.

He then rushed again to the appellate division of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna, where he also lost; the appellate division of Kaduna State High Court on Sept. 29, 2025 affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

A certified true copy of the ruling of the high court in Suit No. KDH/Z/12A/2024 obtained by our correspondent indicated that the court ordered Sha’aban, (the judgment debtor) to pay the entire judgment sum both in naira and dollars to the Chief Registrar of the Kaduna State High Court.

The panel, led by Justice Bilkisu Mohammed and Justice Nana-Fatima Mohammed, held that monetary judgments are generally enforceable unless an applicant proves that the judgment creditor is incapable of refunding the money if the appeal succeeds.

“There is nothing before us to suggest that the respondent is impecunious and unable to refund the judgment sum should the appeal succeed,” the court ruled.

The judges added that while courts are usually reluctant to deny a successful litigant the fruits of judgment, the conditional stay was granted in the interest of justice.

The ruling effectively preserves the judgment sum while allowing enforcement measures tied to the debt recovery process to proceed under the court’s supervision.

In related development, Umar F Abdullahi the Judgment Creditor has obtained an order of the Kano State High Court granting leave to the judgment creditor for the enforcement of the Upper Sharia Court 1 GRA Zaria for sale of the property of the judgment debtor.

The property which was situated at No. 48 Yusuf Road, off Hadejia Road, Bompai Kano was part of the collateral for the loan.

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit of the Court had fixed June 13 for the auction of the property in compliance with the order granted by Justice Faruk Lawan Adamu on May 4. (NAN)

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