Kaduna tribunal: Gov Uba Sani Counsel demands N2m compensation in election petition

• Counsels for Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani demand N2 million compensation from the petitioners, PDP and its Governorship Candidate, for repeated adjournment requests in the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal
• Defence counsels express displeasure with the frivolous adjournment requests, stating that it is wasting the allotted timeframe for the trial
• The presiding judge gives the respondents 48 hours to respond to the petitioners’ application and adjourns the hearing to Monday, July 31, 2023

Counsels for Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, the second respondent in Kaduna State’s ongoing Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, have demanded N2 million in compensation from the petitioners, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its Governorship Candidate, Mohammed Ashiru Isah.

The Counsels expressed their displeasure with the petitioners’ frivolous adjournment requests, claiming that the trial’s allotted timeframe was being squandered.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Candidate, Isah Ashiru, filed a motion of notice requesting an adjournment at the resumed hearing on Wednesday.

While the respondents did not object to the application, they did object to the repeated and seemingly unnecessary adjournment requests.

Speaking on behalf of the defence counsels, Sanusi Musa SAN stated that the constant adjournments were impeding the trial’s progress and undermining the counsels’ commitment to pursue their case diligently.

Musa (SAN) also requested a modification to the petitioners’ scheduling order, noting that “the petitioners had previously requested to call 13 additional witnesses but only presented five and skipped the other eight to call a different one without providing any explanation to the Tribunal.”

As a result, he requested compensation of 2 million Naira to cover the expenses of the defence team’s accommodation and transportation logistics.

The presiding judge, Justice Victor O. Oviawie, gave the respondents 48 hours to respond to the petitioners’ application and then adjourned the hearing until Monday, July 31, 2023, to allow the proceedings to continue.