A Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, adjourned the hearing of a suit filed by Kenneth Imasuangbon, a governorship aspirant of the Labour Party, challenging the nomination of Olumide Akpata as the party’s candidate for the Edo governorship election, to Friday.
The hearing of this pre-election matter, originally scheduled to commence on Thursday, was delayed due to an oral application for a short adjournment by Akpata’s counsel, Mr. N.E. Ogbeide, who claimed he had not yet been served with the court processes.
Counsel for the plaintiff, A. A. Malik (SAN), opposed this application, arguing that the case was ready for hearing. Malik noted that they had responded to the first defendant’s processes and had served these on them since May 22, 2024.
Justice Babatunde Quadri, the presiding judge, ordered the court file to be shown to the disputing counsel. Following this, the first defendant’s counsel, N.E. Ogbeide, conceded that the plaintiff’s processes had indeed been served within the jurisdictional address.
As a result, Justice Quadri adjourned the hearing to 2 pm on Friday.
Imasuangbon is challenging Akpata’s nomination on the grounds that the party did not follow the electoral guidelines during the primaries and that Akpata did not fill and sign the indemnity form, among other issues.
