The Federal High Court, Abuja, has adjourned until February 7, hearing in a suit filed by Anthony Itanyi and the Peoples Democratic Party seeking to remove Kebbi Governor, Abubakar Bagudu.
The trial Judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, adjourned the matter after listening to submissions from A.I Ani, (SAN) counsel to Itanyi, in response to objections raised on some documents he intended to tender in evidence.
It will be recalled that on January 30, Bagudu’s counsel, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), had argued extensively in urging the court not to admit in evidence, some of the documents Ani sought to tender in evidence.
Maikyau had argued that some of the documents such as; the USA District Court of Columbia document titled Verified Complaint, the Memorandum of Opinion and a receipt sought to be tendered did not meet the required standards stipulated by the law.
The lawyer quoted relevant sections of the law and cited some cases to back his argument.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Ani told the court that the case of his client was simply that the information Bagudu gave to the Independent National Electoral Commission in his form CF001 was false.
According to him, the argument by the defence that some of the documents they sought to tender were made over 10 years ago before the cause of action arose was wrong.
He added that the sections of the constitution quoted by the defence to back those arguments did not apply to his case.
On the argument that the documents were inadmissible on the grounds that they were generated electronically, Ani argued that using computer accessories to produce documents did not make such documents computer generated.
Ani stated: “A computer has been defined in the evidence act, and there is nothing on the face of the documents to show that it was computer generated.
“That a document was filed electronically does not mean that it was electronically generated.
“If computer accessories such as printer, scanner and so on are used in the production of a document, it does not make the document computer generated.”
Justice Mohammed adjourned the matter until February 7 for Ani to continue his response and continuation of the case.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the other plaintiff in the suit is Maj. -Gen. Bello Sarkin Yaki (rtd).
Yaki, who was the PDP governorship candidate in the 2015 election, is asking the court to cancel the Certificate of Return issued to Bagudu and declare it as null and void.
He is equally seeking an order of court directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue him with a fresh Certificate of Return for coming second in the said election.
The plaintiffs, in the suit, are praying the court to declare that Bagudu was incompetent to contest the last governorship election in Kebbi.
They urged the court to sack the governor on the premise that he gave false information in the Affidavit of Personal Particulars he submitted to INEC prior to the 2015 governorship election in the state.
