N1bn Libel Suit: Court Orders NBTE Boss To Open Defence

Justice Hamza Mu’azu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, on Monday, ordered the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje, to open his defence in a N1 billion libel suit against him and the Kaduna Polytechnic.

Bugaje, a former rector of the Kaduna Polytechnic, is standing trial for defaming the polytechnic’s Expenditure Officer, Mrs Bilkisu Sannusi.

Bilkisu claimed she was maliciously described as “incompetent and corrupt” in a publication dated April 15, 2019, and circulated as a “vendetta” against her.

The defamatory publication was made and circulated after Bugaje and others “were fingered in the corrupt practices complaint,” which she alleged to have lodged against them and some of her colleagues (in the budget office) “who conspired to manipulate the personnel budget of the Kaduna Polytechnic for the year 2020.”

At the resumed hearing, the plaintiff, who adopted her witness statement, testified that the first defendant defamed her and demanded N1 billion damages.

During cross-examination, the defendants’ counsel argued that some of the documents submitted by the plaintiff were not certified and should be discarded by the court.

Mu’azu adjourned the case until June 28 for the defendants to open defence. Apart from Bugaje, other defendants in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2021 are the polytechnic and the institution’s rector.