Malam Ibrahim Sarki Yola, the presiding judge in the case of an alleged blasphemy against Kano cleric, Sheikh Kabara Abduljabbar, has ordered the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) Headquarters to provide legal representation for the cleric in the ongoing trial of the defendant.
This was just as the council said that Abduljabbar who is standing trial on alleged blasphemy is not qualified to be represented by a lawyer from the council.
At the resumed sitting for the continuation of defence on Thursday, the Kano State Coordinator Legal Aid Council, Barrister Mukhtar Labaran-Usman, told the court that he attended the proceeding, in compliance with the court order issued at the last adjourned date.
According to him, “we wrote a letter to the court in respect of the order dated May 23, the council is constrained in handling the case.”
He said that the council is a Federal Government Parastatal established by section 1(1)of the Legal Aid Act 2011.
Labaran-Usman further said the council shall only be granted to a person whose income does not exceed the N30,000 minimum wage per month.
He noted that “The defendant’s income exceeds the national minimum wage and the offence to which he is arraigned is blasphemy.”
He further disclosed that “blasphemy is not listed in the council act to enable it to represent the defendant.”
In his response, Abduljabbar told the court that he is not a civil servant and wondered how the council knows if he earns more than the minimum wage.
Sheikh Abduljabbar, however, prayed the court not to allow the Attorney General of Kano to provide a lawyer for him.
The defendant made some allegations against the state government while stressing that he doesn’t need the Kano State Government to provide a lawyer for him, insisting that the Kano state Government is an interested party.
He said: “I don’t believe in lawyers anymore, my former three sets of lawyers betrayed me, especially the first team.”
The prosecution counsel, Yakubu Abdullahi, did not object to the letter written by the LACON and urged the court to order the Attorney General of Kano State to provide a legal representation for the defendant.
He hinted that section 389 and 349(5) ACJL 2019 says the Attorney General has the right to get a legal representative for the defendant.
The presiding judge, after listening to both parties, ordered Barrister Shehu-Usman to represent the defendant.
The judge then adjourned the case until June 9, for the continuation of defence.
