By Deborah Onyofufeke
The FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja on Monday, ordered the Executive secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Bugaje to open defense in a 1billon libel suit brought against him and the Kaduna Polytechnic.

Kaduna polytechnic expenditure officer, Mrs. Bilkisu Sanni had accused Bugaje, a former rector of the varsity to have defamed her in a defamatory publication. She claimed that the defendants maliciously described her as “incompetent and corrupt” in a publication dated April 15, 2019. Which was circulated as a “vendetta” against her.

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The applicant had claimed that the defendants carried out the alleged defamation against her after “they were fingered in the corrupt practices complaint”, which she claimed to have lodged against them and some of her colleagues (in the Budget office) “who conspired with them to manipulate the personnel budget of the Kaduna Polytechnic for the year 2020.”

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At the resumed sitting, the plaintiff, who adopted her witness statement, testified to the fact that the 1st defendant defamed her and demanded N1 Billion damages.

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

Justice Hamza Mu’azu has therefore adjourned the matter to June, 28, for the defendants to open defence.

The defendants in suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2021 are Professor M. Idris Bugaje, Kaduna polytechnic, and the Rector, Kaduna polytechnic