A Kano State High Court presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Nura Sagir, on Thursday declined to set aside the proceedings, verdict and recommendations of Prof. Salisu Shehu, an umpire of the debate between Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara and some Kano Islamic scholars.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Sagir upheld that Abduljabbar chose to attend the debate conducted on July 10, 2021 on his own volition, emphasising that he was not coerced into the venue.

The judge also noted that the debate (Muqabala) was not a judicial proceeding, as the court had the jurisdiction to quash or make review on judicial proceedings alone, not debate or dialogue, stressing that debate was an academic exercise between scholars who had different opinion or belief.

Furthermore, Justice Sagir said Abduljabbar agreed with the terms of the debate in his reply to the Kano State Governor and therefore declined to grant the prayer to review and quashed the proceeding, verdict and recommendations delivered by Prof. Shehu.

Earlier, it was reported that counsel for Sheikh Abduljabbar, Mr. Saleh Bakaro, approached the court through an ex-parte prayer, asking the court to quash the proceedings, verdict and recommendations of Professor Shehu.

The counsel alleged that Sheikh Abduljabbar was not accorded fair hearing to defend himself during the debate.

Recall that at the end of the dialogue, the umpire of the proceeding, Prof. Shehu, pointed out that Sheikh Abduljabbar failed to answer all the questions raised by the scholars.