By LAWAL TAOFEEK

Chief Magistrate Court I, sitting in Birnin Kebbi, has ordered the Nigerian Police to investigate court contempt allegations leveled against a factional Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Abubakar Bala.

Magistrate Abubakar Abdullahi-Koko, who gave the order in his ruling on Tuesday, after listening to all parties in their submissions over the matter, also overruled preliminary objections raised by the defendant’s counsel.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a factional Chairman of ADC loyal to Abubakar Malami, SAN, Abubakar Bala, was dragged to court by Abdulrasak Abubakar.

Bala was arraigned for disobedience of a High Court order restraining him from relocation of the secretariat and parading himself as the state chairman of the party.

When the case resumed for ruling on Tuesday, Magistrate Abubakar Abdullahi-Koko told the parties that the defendant’s counsel had failed to bring all the documents containing the ongoing suits before the High Court to justify his argument that the case before the Magistrate Court amounted to an abuse of judicial process.

He also noted that his inability to bring such documents containing the suits before the High Court had compelled the court not to depend on mere speculation.

“Those documents are not before this honourable court. The questions begging for answers are: Can the court conclude on this matter without these documents or not?

“A competent court cannot be speculating on what it hasn’t seen.

“Therefore, in the foregoing, it is my humble view that there was nothing before me to determine or overrule the claimant’s submissions or the preliminary objections of the defendant,” he said.

Abdullahi-Koko, however, asked the defendant to take his plea.

After the plea was read to the defendant, the factional chairman, Bala, pleaded that all the allegations leveled against him were not true.

His counsel, Ahmad Abubakar-Fingalla, told the court that all the allegations leveled against his client were bailable offences which the court could use its discretion to grant.

He said that if bail was granted, his client would not jump bail, disrupt or interfere with the justice process.

The claimant’s counsel, Garba Abubakar-Shehu, did not oppose the oral application for bail.

In his ruling, Abdullahi-Koko declared that in accordance with the Kebbi Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2021, Section 105(4), the police should take up the investigation of the allegation of incitement of the public and disobedience of court order leveled against the defendant.

The case was adjourned indefinitely, while the defendant remained in police custody. (NAN)

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