A Sokoto Chief Magistrate Court on Wednesday granted bail to Shafi’u Umar, a former special assistant to ex-governor Aminu Tambuwal, charged with circulating falsehoods against Sokoto State Governor Ahmad Aliyu and his wife on social media.
At the mention of the case on August 26, police prosecutor Insp Abdurahman Mansur said the 37-year-old circulated a video of the governor’s wife Fatima Aliyu on July 18 “spraying” money during her birthday ceremony despite the present hardships faced by citizens.
Mr Umar was also allegedly accused of sharing a document that indicated that Aliyu failed his Senior Secondary School Examination, scored F9, and is incapable of speaking English.
The defendant earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded in a correctional facility.
Ruling on the bail application filed by the lead defence counsel Al’Mustafa Abubakar, the trial judge, Magistrate Fatima Hassan, granted Umar bail in the sum of N1 million with a surety in like sum.
Hassan ordered that the surety should be a resident of Sokoto and deposit his National Identity Card along with two copies of passport photographs in the court.
She adjourned the case to October 10, 2024, for the prosecution to complete their investigation as assured by police prosecutor Mansur.
She ordered that the defendant should be remanded in a correctional facility.
