By Terna Chikpa
The Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, on Wednesday adjourned a suit challenging the conduct of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency to July 1, 2026.
The presiding judge, Hon. Justice Mashkur Salisu, announced the adjournment following the absence of counsel to the third defendant.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that Hon. Princess Leah Olusiyi Solomon approached the court to challenge the conduct of the primary election that allegedly produced the incumbent member representing the constituency, Hon. Prince Tafida Abas, as the APC candidate for the 2027 general election.
According to Princess Solomon, the primaries were not conducted in the constituency, and she urged the court to nullify the outcome of the exercise.
Meanwhile, when the case came up for hearing, counsel to the third defendant failed to appear in court and did not issue any prior notification explaining his absence.
Addressing journalists shortly after the court session, counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister P.D. Pius, expressed dissatisfaction over the action of the third defendant’s counsel. He lamented that the counsel neither appeared in court nor notified the court of his inability to attend despite having been duly served.
“I don’t know why counsel to the third defendant was absent in court. He was duly served to appear today, but we were surprised that he failed to appear without any notification,” Pius said.
Barrister Pius urged the court to take into consideration the legal implications and the need for an expeditious hearing, and to proceed with the matter if the defendant fails to appear on the adjourned date.