A defamation lawsuit filed by Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor against Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna central, was dismissed by a Kaduna High Court.
In response to comments attributed to the former lawmaker, the former governor had claimed N2 billion in damages.
The former governor said in the lawsuit that Sani defamed him by calling him a “drunk, loose cannon, and an embarrassment to President Muhammadu Buhari”
El-Rufai asserted that Sani’s statements are completely incorrect and damaging to his reputation.
Judge H.A.L Balogun, who presided over the case, declared that the lawsuit was a misuse of the legal system on Thursday.
El-Rufai, according to Balogun, filed the same case in other state courts.
Sani’s attorney, Kimi Livingstone Appah, brought the former governor’s filing of the same complaint in four different state courts to the court’s knowledge before the hearing had started.
The judge dropped the case after granting Appah’s preliminary objection.
“This is a victory for democracy and freedom of expression,” Appah said in a statement to media following the announcement of the judgement.