Abuja: The Court of appeal, affirmed the removal of Mr. Kabir Ibrahim as president of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) by the Federal High Court (FHC) Abuja. A three-member panel of justices, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, also awarded the cost of N200,000 against Ibrahim.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Danjuma held that Ibrahim’s appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/554/2022, was devoid of merit and accordingly dismissed. Danjuma further held that the two issues raised by the appellant (Ibrahim) for determination were resolved in favor of Mr. Farouk Mudi, the authentic president of the association. The judgment reaffirmed the decision of the lower court, delivered on March 24, 2022, and ordered Ibrahim to pay the respondents N200,000.
The other two panel members, headed by Justice Ali Gumel and including Justice Anthony Ogakwu, also adopted the judgment, dismissing the appeal. Ibrahim approached the Appeal Court after the judgment by retired Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the FHC, which restrained him from acting as AFAN president.
Justice Taiwo’s ruling declared the April 10, 2021, election in Kano, which installed Mudi and members of AFAN’s National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Council (NEC), as valid. The judge ordered Ibrahim to hand over the association’s assets, citing that his tenure expired on June 14, 2019.
The legal battle between Ibrahim and Mudi involved multiple suits. Ibrahim’s initial suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/329/2020, was countered by Mudi’s suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/322/2020. In the first suit, Justice Taiwo sided with the defendants, arguing that Ibrahim’s five-year term had concluded as stipulated by AFAN’s constitution.
Justice Taiwo emphasized that the NEC of AFAN is the only body authorized to initiate legal proceedings in the association’s name. He dismissed the suit for lack of authorization from the NEC for the plaintiffs, Ibrahim and Rev. Tobias Iwu.
In the second suit, Justice Taiwo again ruled against Ibrahim, affirming that his tenure, along with his executive committee’s, had ended on June 14, 2019. The judge struck out the name of the Inspector-General of Police from the suit, citing lack of cause of action.
Mudi, through AFAN, had sued Ibrahim and his dissolved NWC for not handing over the association’s assets. The case sought to prevent Ibrahim’s committee from acting as the association’s executives, highlighting the expired tenure and lack of authority to manage AFAN’s affairs.
