Godwin Tsa, Abuja

 Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court has shifted hearing of the suit challenging the collation of the result of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Bauchi State to Thursday.

Already the court has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from continuing with the exercise.

The matter could not proceed on Wednesday as scheduled as counsel to the plaintiffs’ Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), told the judge that he needed time to respond to INEC’s notice of preliminary objection, counter-affidavit and written address served on him shortly before the court started sitting.

Counsel to INEC, which is listed as the sole defendant in the suit,  Mr. Abdulazeez Sani, did not oppose the application for adjournment.

After hearing from the two lawyers he directed that he would hear the main suit together with INEC’s notice of preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction by 2 pm on Thursday.

The plaintiffs in the suit, who obtained the Tuesday’s order stopping the collation of the results of the governorship election in Bauchi State, are the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the governorship election in the state, Governor Mohammed Abubakar.

 APC and its candidate are behind the People’s Democratic Party’s Bala Mohammed in the results so far collated by INEC.

Earlier, PDP had expressed its dissatisfaction about the Tuesday’s interlocutory order.

Although not yet joined as a defendant, PDP sent its team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche (SAN) and its National Legal Adviser, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, to monitor the Wednesday’s proceedings.

Uche informed the judge of his mission to watch the proceedings on Wednesday.

 Enoidem told journalists after Tuesday’s proceedings that PDP would apply to be joined as a defendant in the suit.

The plaintiffs had in their suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/299, prayed for an order mandating INEC to go ahead with the supplementary election scheduled to hold on Saturday following the commission’s earlier declaration of the March 9 exercise inconclusive.

They are challenging the decision of INEC to reverse its earlier position to conduct a supplementary election.

INEC had said the supplementary poll was no longer necessary and continued with the collation of the results after a re-computation of the results showed that the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the state ought not to have been declared inconclusive.

Meanwhile, the electoral body in its counter affidavit urged the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.

The affidavit deposed to by Hassan Adamu, an officer of INEC, stated: “Contrary to paragraph 22 of affidavit in support of Originating Summons, I state that the decision by the defendant to conclude collation for Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State was made based on the figures contained in the duplicates of results of the election.”