An Upper Sharia Court sitting in Kano on Thursday dissolved the 16-year-old marriage between Asiya Ganduje and Inuwa Uba.
Asiya is a daughter of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State.
Delivering a ruling, the judge Malam Abdullahi Halliru said the marriage was dissolved through Khul’i (divorce by Islamic means).
Halliru ordered the plaintiff to return N50,000 paid as dowry by the respondent.
“The conditions the respondent earlier raised before the court should be based on Islamic Sunnah on Khul’i.
“Khul’i is strictly based on returning the dowry given to a woman, the condition should not affect her in any way, especially in giving out her wealth,” the judge said.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel Ibrahim Aliyu-Nassarawa told the court that his client insisted on returning the N50,000 bride price received from her husband in exchange for divorce.
NAN reports that the petitioner was in court seeking the dissolution of her marriage through Islamic means (Khul’i) as she claimed to be tired and fed up with Inuwa.
“Every woman who is living under strange conditions has a right under Islamic law to approach the court and seek for her marriage to be dissolved with the condition to return the dowry,” Aliyu-Nassarawa said.
Counsel to the respondent Umar Umar said the issue was beyond the payment of N50,000 dowry.
“The respondent has four kids with the plaintiff, but all efforts to reconcile them proved abortive,” Umar said.
He gave two conditions regarding some of his belongings, that the plaintiff should return all his client credentials, house certificates, cars and relinquish her rights in their joint rice company before he divorces her.
