A Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court on Friday remanded Shafi’u Umar in a correctional centre for allegedly circulating falsehood against Gov. Ahmad Aliyu and his wife on social media.F

Umar, 37, is the Special Assistant to former Governor Aminu Tambuwal.

He has been charged with circulating injurious falsehood and engraving matter known to be defamatory, NAN reports.
The case was first mentioned on August 26, and the police prosecutor, Insp Abdurahman Mansur, said the offence contravened the penal code law.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the defendant committed the offence on July 18.

The prosecution said the defendant circulated a video of the governor’s wife, Hajia Fatima Aliyu, “spraying” money on her birthday despite the hardship faced by the majority of Nigerians.
Umar was also accused of sharing a document that indicated that Aliyu failed his Senior Secondary School Examination, scored F9 and incapable of speaking English.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The lead defence counsel, Mr Al’Mustafa Abubakar, made an oral application for bail which was objected to by the prosecution and the magistrate reserved for ruling.

Earlier, Abubakar urged the Judge to adjourn the case for definite hearing, arguing that the prosecution should not hide under the guise of investigation, which ought to have been completed before the next sitting.

In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan said the only document before her was the FIR and in recognition of the nature of the offence, the defence counsel needs to file a formal application for his client’s bail.

Hassan adjourned the case until September 18 and ordered that the defendant should be remanded in a correctional facility.