A Kano High Court has dismissed an attempt by former lawmaker Mahmood Sani Sha'aban to block enforcement of a Kaduna State judgment against him, paving the way for his properties to be attached and sold to settle an outstanding debt.
Justice Faruk Lawal, sitting at High Court 3 in Kano, ruled on Friday that Sha'aban's legal team had failed to provide sufficient grounds to set aside the enforcement proceedings or to secure a stay of action. Sha'aban, represented by counsel M. Salihu, had asked the court to halt enforcement pending further determination of the matter.
Opposing the application, counsel for the judgment creditor, Abdullahi Yahya SAN, told the court that Sha'aban had ignored previous orders to repay the debt within an agreed timeframe. The judge agreed, ordering Sha'aban to comply with the existing judgment and affirming that the creditor could proceed with lawful recovery measures against his assets.
Yahya later explained that registering the Kaduna judgment in Kano was a necessary legal step, since one of Sha'aban's properties is located there — allowing enforcement even though the original ruling came from a different state. He said the decision now clears the way for Sha'aban's Kano properties to be attached and auctioned to repay creditor Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi.
The dispute traces back to a 2018 loan arrangement. According to court documents, Abdullahi provided $1 million and ₦11.2 million as an interest-free loan, structured under Islamic financing principles, to help secure Sha'aban's release after his arrest and detention in Dubai. The agreement was first signed by Sha'aban's son and later countersigned by Sha'aban himself upon his return to Nigeria, with repayment due within six months in the original currencies disbursed.
Sha'aban reportedly repaid $290,762 of the loan but failed to clear the remaining balance, prompting the legal action that has now resulted in the Kano court's affirmation of enforcement.
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