A Kano State High Court has adjourned until April 15 the trial of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar, and son, Abdullahi Umar, alongside five other defendants, over alleged misappropriation of public funds amounting to billions of naira.

The defendants are facing an 11-count charge bordering on bribery, conspiracy, misappropriation, and diversion of public funds. The remaining accused persons are Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd, and Lasage General Enterprises Ltd.

At the resumed hearing, the prosecution told the court it was ready to proceed and drew attention to a motion dated November 24, 2025, seeking leave to file additional proof of evidence.

However, defence lawyers raised objections, informing the court that multiple applications were pending and must be resolved before the trial could continue.

Lydia Oluwakemi-Oyewo, counsel to some of the defendants, said the defence had filed a motion dated July 17, 2025, seeking a stay of proceedings.
Adekunle Taiye-Falola, representing the third and seventh defendants, also referred to a separate motion dated May 23, 2025.
In addition, Muhammad Shehu, counsel to the fifth defendant, told the court that an affidavit had been filed notifying it of a pending application for stay of proceedings before the Court of Appeal.
Abubakar Ahmad, counsel to the sixth defendant, informed the court that he had filed a notice of preliminary objection and an application for extension of time to respond on points of law dated February 2, urging the court to fix a date for hearing.

Only Faruk Asekome, counsel to the eighth defendant, indicated readiness to proceed with the trial.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, adjourned the matter to April 15 for the hearing of all pending applications and preliminary objections.

The trial has suffered repeated delays due to legal challenges. The high court had earlier dismissed preliminary objections raised by the defence as “incompetent” and affirmed its jurisdiction to hear the case.
That ruling was appealed by the defendants, who argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction. However, in October 2025, the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal struck out the appeal, citing failure to properly transmit the record of appeal.

-Guardian

Founder of the David Christian Centre and popular relationship coach, Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo, has doubled down on his decision to get a tattoo, saying there is no scripture that says a child of God cannot have a tattoo.

The cleric’s decision to get a tattoo reading “3:16” in Roman numerals, a reference to John 3:16 in the Bible, sparked controversy on social media.

His action was condemned by netizens who cited Leviticus 19:28, a Bible passage that reads, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”

Dismissing the argument against his decision, Pastor Okonkwo said in an interview, “There’s no scripture that says a child of God cannot have tattoo. So, people are (just) doing personal preference, or what the Holy Spirit told them, or their church’s preferences. They want to impose this on other people, and that’s not how this works. Everyone needs to know Christ and the word of God.

“Somebody needs to sit me down and say tattoos are bad because if somebody draws ink on their body, their brain goes bad; if somebody draws ink on their body, their character suddenly goes bad. They must give me scriptural or scientific proof, or something to back this up.”

“Nobody can tell me why tattoo is bad. It’s just bad because… no reason. This kind of thinking is saddening for me because how is Africa going to catch up with development if we are still thinking ‘oh, somebody wore jeans and went to rob, so jeans are now bad. Pastor cannot wear jeans because last week somebody wore jeans and went to rob a bank’. What are we talking about? So, I don’t see the basis.”

Eyebrows are tattoos, my critics do them – Kingsley Okonkwo
Further, Okonkwo stated that while tattoos may be associated with bad people, he could name 10 good people with tattoos.

“It’s the same reason why some people don’t want to go into politics. They say politics is for bad people. So, we have left it for the people we think are dirty. So, who is going to go there? That has been the mindset of the church. We avoid everything that looks bad, and then we complain,” he said.

In a TikTok video, Okonkwo descended on critics of his decision, reminding them of the questionable things they also do.

He said, “Today I’m seeing Christian girls buying human hair and wearing it to church, and they are typing on tattoo while wearing another human being’s hair.

“You don’t know the origin of Christianity in Nigeria. Go and ask the older people who are sincere, they will tell you that even your makeup was a sin just a few years ago… was sacrilege, taboo, evil.

“Today, I see people do eyebrow. You don’t know that eyebrow is tattoo? Are you not painting? If you are painting eyebrows, it is tattoo. Some people even do microblading. Is it not tattoo? It’s a form of tattoo.

“Do you know that there was a time, if you didn’t tie a scarf, you couldn’t go to church. Some of you didn’t know this. Who fought for that liberty you enjoy?

“There were times you couldn’t wear earrings, such that once you gave your life to Jesus, you threw away your earrings and all your jewellery. Some of you didn’t know these things, but today you are typing. I pity the level of ignorance you are carrying,

“There were times you couldn’t wear jeans in this body of Christ. I was here when you couldn’t wear jeans. Do you wear jeans? Oh, you are leading many astray.

“Some people are saying tattoo is leading people astray. I say jeans were leading people astray a few years ago, today we are wearing them. Do you wear jeans? Ungodly garment.”

Those who cut themselves are demon-possessed
In an old sermon sighted by our correspondent, Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Works Baptist Church in Arizona, USA. stated that tattoos, which involve cutting oneself, are similar to what demon-possessed people did in the Bible.

“Everybody who cuts themselves in the Bible is demon-possessed. And today, we see high schoolers by the thousands and millions cutting themselves,” Pastor Anderson said.

He then addressed those who love to claim that the law against tattoos is in the Old Testament and is no longer relevant. He did this by citing the next verse after the one against tattoos in Leviticus, which reads, “Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”

According to him, if their understanding is relevant, it means people can now go ahead and prostitute their daughters.

Our correspondent also found a YouTube sermon by Pastor Aaron Thompson explaining why tattoos are bad.

During a sermon at Strong Tower Baptist Church in the US, he said, “Tattoo is a heathen practice that has been going on since Noah got off the ark, basically. They’ve found mummies and people in ice in different places that had tattoos on them. People have been doing this heathen practice for a long time. It’s connected to religion; it’s connected to cannibalism; it’s connected to head hunting. There’s nothing good about tattoos.”

-Guardian

The Legacy Support Group for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has reaffirmed its backing for the Federal Government’s reform policies, declaring support for what it described as a long-term recovery framework aimed at building a more stable and prosperous Nigeria.

Speaking at a press conference, the group’s National Patron, Chief Mike Okiro, represented by Chief Marcel Ezenwa, said the coalition was committed to “joining the train of Renewed Hope” as a pathway to a better tomorrow. He conveyed Okiro’s full support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that the administration’s reform direction is designed to reposition the country for sustainable growth and institutional stability.

Also addressing journalists, the group’s National Coordinator, Ezinna Chief Chima C. Duru, said the briefing was convened to respond to what he described as sustained negative narratives and political attacks against the Tinubu administration by opposition figures and “disgruntled political actors.”

He noted that while criticism is a legitimate feature of democracy, it must be constructive and fact-based, warning that politically driven misinformation could undermine necessary reforms.

-Leadership