An aide of former Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal has been remanded in prison for sharing a media content considered offensive to the state governor, Ahmad Aliyu.
Shafiu Umar was remanded in a correctional facility for allegedly insulting the governor, his wife, and his deputy on a Facebook post.
Mr Umar allegedly shared a video of the governor struggling to construct a sentence in English and also posted Mr Aliyu’s senior secondary school leaving certificate online.
A magistrate, Fatima Hassan, barred reporters from covering the court proceedings on Monday.
But the police’s First Information Report (FIR) obtained by reporters indicated that the government charged Mr Umar with circulating injurious falsehood and engraving matter known to be defamatory, offences that the government said contravened the Penal Code law.
According to the FIR, the accused person committed the offences sometimes in July by sharing videos of the governor’s wife, Fatima Aliyu, spreading money on the ground during her birthday ceremony.
Mr Umar was also allegedly accused of sharing a document that indicated that Governor Aliyu failed his Senior Secondary School Examination as he scored F9 in English and is not capable of speaking the language fluently.
His lawyer, Yusuf Abubakar, later told reporters that Mr Umar denied the charges and made an oral application for his bail.
The Chief Magistrate adjourned the ruling on bail application to 6 September and ordered his remand in the correctional facility till then.
[Premium Times]
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