Wada v Bello: Kogi election tribunal adjourns till 13 April

The Kogi Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has adjourned sitting until April 13 in the petition brought by the former state governor, Capt. Idris Wada of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The adjournment is for parties joined in the suit to count and sort out documents which the petitioner said it relied upon to prove its petition.

Wada had sued Gov. Yahaya Bello in the tribunal on the ground that his election did not follow due process as laid down by the law.

Also joined in the suit by Wada were the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, Justice Halima Muhammad, the tribunal Chairman, adjourned the petition when she saw that the figure in the document schedule was not tallying with the document before the tribunal.

The judge said it was necessary to adjourn the matter since the parties had informed the tribunal that they were yet to complete the sorting-out and cross-checking of documents before the tribunal.

The chairman then ordered the parties to use April 11 and April 12 to sort out every issue on the document the petitioner had presented before the tribunal.

She said the tribunal could not move ahead or make any progress in the petition unless the documents were sorted out.

Counsel to the petitioner, Mr Chris Uche (SAN), had earlier told the tribunal that they were unable to finish the sorting out and pleaded for more time in order to allow them complete the process.

Uche informed the tribunal that what was remaining was a small portion of the document.

Also, Counsel to the three respondents had earlier informed the tribunal that it was necessary to do the comparison of document within the parties if progress must be made.

Mr Mahmoud Magagi (SAN) was the Counsel to Alhaji Bello; Mr Akinlolu Olujimi (SAN) was the Counsel to the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Mr Alex Izinyon (SAN) was Counsel to INEC.

Meanwhile, the tribunal had also adjourned hearing in the petition brought by the Labour Party until April 6 and April 7 for, while the petition brought by the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) had been adjourned until April 11 and April 12.