From Bashir Rabe Mani, Sokoto
Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) engaged in a heated war of words at the Federal High Court in Sokoto on Monday, during a legal battle over the leadership tussle within the state chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The fiery session ended with the presiding judge, Justice Ahmad Mahmud Gama, fining the lead counsel for the 1st defendant N500,000 and adjourning the case to July 22, 2026.
The drama began when Barrister Salmanu Jabo, standing in for the 1st defendant’s lead counsel, Dr. Sulaiman Usman, SAN, applied for an adjournment due to his principal’s unavoidable absence.
Jabo informed the court that he only had the authority to hold his principal’s brief for an adjournment, not to argue the substantive case.
Jabo further argued that proceeding with the hearing would violate the principle of fair hearing, as he had filed three pending processes that had not yet been served on all parties, specifically the 4th and 5th defendants.
Supporting the application, the lead counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Prof. Ibrahim Abdullahi, SAN, cited Order 26, Rule 4 of the Federal High Court regulations. He noted that by law, a party served with court processes has seven days to respond, urging the court to grant the adjournment in the interest of justice.
However, the Lead Counsel for the Plaintiff, Mathew Burkaa, SAN, vehemently opposed the application, declaring it incompetent.
Burkaa accused the defense team of employing serial adjournment requests as a deliberate delay tactic to stall the case and urged the court to strike out the application so proceedings could continue.
Delivering his ruling after intense arguments, Justice Gama granted the adjournment to preserve the integrity of the trial.
“It is correct that all parties must be served so that they can appropriately respond.
“Failure to do that is a violation of the principle of fair play,” Justice Gama ruled.
While he adjourned the matter to July 22, 2026, the judge heavily penalized the defense for the delay.
He imposed a N500,000 fine on the lead counsel for the 1st defendant, payable to the court.
Additionally, Justice Gama ordered the 1st defendant’s counsel to reimburse the plaintiff’s lead counsel for his air travel expenses from Lagos to Sokoto, contingent upon the presentation of receipts and other related logistics bills.
