Ganduje’s Daughter Begs Court To End 16-Year-Old Marriage

Asiya Balaraba Ganduje told an Upper Shari’a Court sitting in Filing Hockey in Kano State that she will pay back her husband his N50,000 dowry not any other thing.

It could be recalled that the daughter of Kano State governor had filed a suit before the court seeking to dissolve her 16-year-old marriage with her husband, Inuwa Uba

Ms Ganduje presented her claim through Islamic Khuli principles, due to her being “fed up with the marriage”.

She also claimed that she is ready to return his N50,000 dowry to him as it is prescribed by Islamic jurisprudence that a woman had to pay the husband his dowry before the marriage to be dissolved.

In contrast, Mr Uba insisted that he still loves his wife and pleaded with his wife to come back to him.

When the matter came up yesterday, the counsel to Gandujes in law, Uba led by Barrister Umar I. Umar said that the issue is not only for her to pay back the dowry but there is a condition, which she has to abide by before the marriage will be dissolved.

“The issue is not only for her to pay back the dowry of N50,000. There are a lot of his belongings with her, which includes his credentials, certificates of his properties and his cars. Above all, we want her to relinquish her right of possession in a joint venture of one rice milling company.”

But the counsel to the plaintiff led by Barrister Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa insisted that they will pay only N50,000 dowry advising the defendant to file another suit before another court for his claims.

“We want him to understand that the khul’i is based on the actual subject matter of the marriage which is dowry. His dowry was N50,000 and we say we are giving him N50, O00. But we are not going to abide by his conditions. All these issues are the subject matter of this suit. If he wants these claims, he should file another suit before another court. And we are saying that she is not willing to relinquish her right in the rice milling company. We are giving him what he gave us as dowry but we are not giving him what is not his own.”

The judge Khadi Abdullahi Halliru adjourned the case to 2nd February, 2023 for judgement.