The National and House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano state has ruled that the House of Representatives Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, has 21 days within which he can file his response.
The tribunal dismissed a submission by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Air Commodore Yusha’u Salisu (rtd), seeking to limit Doguwa’s time of response.
The rule of the Tribunal provides that a respondent in a litigation is entitled to file a memorandum of appearance within 7 days and his own reply within 14 days from the declaration of the result or to file his response within 21 days.
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Salisu (rtd), who was Alhassan Doguwa’s main challenger in the last National Assembly election, approached the Tribunal with an exparte application requesting the court to limit the time of the respondent from 21 days to 3 days.
Doguwa, fielded by the All Progressives Congress (APC), is leading in the inconclusive National Assembly election held on February 25 but Salisu went to court challenging the legitimacy of the poll’s outcome.
Legal counsel to the NNPP candidate, Barrister Bashir Yusuf Muhammad Tudun Wuzirci, sought to abridge the respondent’s (Doguwa’s) time rights of response in an exparte application containing three prayers.
But in his verdict, the Tribunal chairman, Justice LB Lawal Akopo, posited that it is only fair in the eyes of the law to allow the respondent enjoy his 21 days, as required by the law.
He however granted leave to the litigant to serve Doguwa through substituted means by pasting the summon at the Kano APC Secretariat.
The court similarly allowed application exparte by Yushau Salisu to be heard outside pre-hearing session.