Trustees To Appeal Ruling On Kaduna Al Manar Mosque, Foundation, School

Members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Al Manar Education and Development Foundation, owners of the popular Al Manar Juma’at Mosque in Kaduna, have vowed to appeal the Federal High Court’s judgment dismissing a suit challenging their suspension by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Justice Rilwanu Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, on Thursday struck out the suit, holding that it was wrongly brought as a fundamental human rights application.

The court ruled that the applicants’ issues did not fall within the ambit of enforceable fundamental rights and therefore lacked merit.

The suit was filed by members of the BoT seeking to set aside their suspension by the CAC, which they argued was carried out without a fair hearing.

Speaking to journalists after the judgment, counsel to the applicants, Mas’ud Alabelewe, said the trustees approached the court believing their right to a fair hearing had been breached.

He said the court, however, took a different view, adding that his clients had applied for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to study it and determine the next line of action.

“When we obtain and thoroughly review the judgment, we will advise our clients appropriately,” Alabelewe said, hinting that an appeal was being considered.

Reacting separately, the sixth applicant and a suspended BoT member, Alhaji Aliyu Moddibo, said the trustees would most likely approach the Court of Appeal after studying the full judgment.

Moddibo described the dispute as a struggle to protect what he called a community-owned mosque and school from what he alleged were vested interests seeking a “hostile takeover.”

He alleged that the BoT members had invested their time, resources and expertise in building the foundation from scratch, insisting that none of them had benefited financially from it.

Moddibo further accused the Chief Imam, Tukur Adam, of attempting to personalise the Mosque and influence succession within its leadership, claims he said had been raised before reconciliation committees.

According to him, several eminent Nigerians had intervened in earlier reconciliation efforts, agreements were reportedly reached and documented, but were later allegedly repudiated.

Moddibo also alleged forgery and other improprieties, stressing that such matters had been reported to the police and investigated, and that the BoT would pursue justice through legal means.

When contacted on allegations of misappropriation of Mosque funds, the Chief Imam, Sheikh Tukur Adam Al-Manar, declined to comment on the judgment.

He, however, dismissed the allegations, saying he could not have misappropriated funds as he is not a signatory to the foundation’s bank accounts.

Reacting to the alleged forced takeover of the Mosque, Sheikh Al-Manar said the Mosque does not belong to the community but is a Da’awah project entrusted to him by the founders.