Remanded in custody in his home state of Jigawa, Sule Lamido’s appearance in court today in Abuja is now uncertain. Lamido who has been standing trial over corruption charges since 2015 has a completely different court entanglement over alleged inciting statements related to local election politics. He was arrested last Sunday, taken to the Chief Magistrate Court 2 in Dutse on April 2nd, 2017 and remanded in custody subsequently.
This seems a completely new turn for the former governor who is representing it as tribulations in connection with his 2019 ambition. How helpful or relevant such narrative might be at this point is open to debate. But that is also the position the Ahmed Makarfi led National Caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has also taken, comparing what Lamido is alleged to have said to what candidate Buhari had also been said at an earlier campaign to the effect that “…If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood”. The PDP is arguing that Buhari was never arrested over the statement in question and that only those planning to steal votes would be scared if Lamido made a similar statement.
Since Monday when PDP issued its statement, the matter has become subjudice and it would now have to prove its claims in court. It is not clear how the court system handles this type of clash, which one takes priority over the other or the two cases go on concurrently.
