Ex-Rep’s Landed Properties Auctioned Over Debt

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit of the Kaduna State High Court has auctioned the properties of a former federal lawmaker, Hon. Mahmood Sani Sha’aban, over a longstanding debt dispute involving businessman Umar Faruk Abdullahi, on Monday June, 1, 2026.

The properties auctioned by the court included the land and structures behind Sha’aban’s main residence opposite Therbow Secondary School, Zaria, with certificate of occupancy No. KD 3984;  land and structures on plot No. 3 Churchill Road, GRA Zaria, with certificate of occupancy No KD 11226.

Others are the land and structures on Tulips, MTD Junction by Queen Elizabeth Road, GRA, Zaria with certificate of occupancy No. KD 15052 and Mazari Nails Limited on  Kaduna-Kano Expressway with certificate of occupancy No. KD 6246.

Speaking to newsmen after the auction, Mr Abdullahi Yahaya (SAN), counsel to the judgment creditor, said the business of the day was for the auction/sale of the properties of the judgment debtor as ordered in the judgment of Upper Sharia Court 1, Zaria.

He added that the court has confiscated five properties of the judgment debtor (four of which are in Zaria, while one is in Kano).

“So far we have auctioned the properties located in Zaria, and the remaining property in Kano will be done in due course,’’ Yahaya said.

It would be recalled that the case was hinged on a loan agreement signed in 2018 by Hon. Sani Mahmud Sha’aban (Dan Buran Zazzau) and Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi to secure his release from a problem involving arrest and detention in Dubai (UAE) in the same year.

A total amount of one million US Dollars (1m US dollars) and eleven point two million naira (N11.2 million) was given to Sha’aban by the Judgment Creditor on loan (without interest) under strict Islamic law, which was drafted and witnessed by Sha’aban’s lawyers and signed by his son and later on his return from prison he countersigned in acceptance.

Sha’aban had already paid $290,762 out of the one-million-dollar loan, and he later declined to pay the remaining balance. Part of the conditions attached was the redemption of the loan within six months and with the same currency as he was paid.

On Feb. 12, 2024 the Upper Sharia Court 1 sitting in GRA, Zaria ordered Sani Sha’aban, a former Kaduna State gubernatorial aspirant, to repay loans of $709,238 and N11.2 million to Alhaji Umar Faruk Abdullahi.

The court ordered the confiscation of Sha’aban’s properties used as collateral for the loans.

Sha’aban, dissatisfied with the judgment, filed eight grounds of appeal before the Sharia Court of Appeal, Kaduna, on Feb. 13.

He also filed an application for a stay of execution, which was dismissed by the Upper Sharia Court, GRA Zaria, and subsequently struck out by the Sharia Court of Appeal, Kaduna.

He then rushed again to the appellate division of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna, where he also lost; the appellate division of Kaduna State High Court on Sept. 29, 2025 affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

A certified true copy of the ruling in Suit No. KDH/Z/12A/2024, obtained by our correspondent, indicated thatthe court ordered Sha’aban (the judgment debtor) to pay the entire judgment sum, both in naira and dollars, to the Chief Registrar of the Kaduna State High Court.

The panel, led by Justice Bilkisu Mohammed and Justice Nana Fatima Mohammed, held that monetary judgments are generally enforceable unless an applicant proves that the judgment creditor is incapable of refunding the money if the appeal succeeds.

“There is nothing before us to suggest that the respondent is impecunious and unable to refund the judgment sum should the appeal succeed,” the court ruled.

The judges added that while courts are usually reluctant to deny a successful litigant the fruits of judgment, the conditional stay was granted in the interest of justice.

The ruling effectively preserves the judgment sum while allowing enforcement measures tied to the debt recovery process to proceed under the court’s supervision.

Meanwhile, Umar F Abdullahi, the Judgment Creditor, has obtained an order of the Kano State High Court granting leave to the judgment creditor for the enforcement of the Upper Sharia Court 1 GRA Zaria for the sale of the property of the judgment debtor.

The property, located at No. 48 Yusuf Road, off Hadejia Road, Bompai, Kano, was part of the collateral for the loan.

The Sheriff and Civil Process Unit of the Court had fixed June 13 for the auction of the property in compliance with the order granted by Justice Faruk Lawan Adamu on May 4.