Court sets hearing into Sokoto ADC leadership row for July 22, 2026

The Federal High Court in Sokoto, on Monday, adjourned to July 22, 2026 for hearing in the suit filed before it by one Alhaji Umar Faruk challenging the legality of the current leadership of the party, after a heated debate among senior lawyers.

The debate came to the fore when the presiding judge, Justice Ahmad Mahmud Gama, ruled in an application submitted to the court by the lead counsel for the first defendant, Dr Sulaiman Usman, SAN.

Lawyer Salmanu Jabo, who replaced Usman, had earlier made a request to have the matter adjourned following the absence of his principal, who he said was unavoidably absent to attend to some critical matters relating to the case.

Jabo said he was not competent to proceed with Monday’s hearing as he submitted three cases pending before the court which have not been served on all parties, insisting that this is a fundamental right of all parties.

The lead counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Prof. Ibrahim Abdullahi, SAN, who did not oppose the request for postponement by the counsel for the 1st defendant, urged the court to grant it in the context of justice and fairness.

Ibrahim, who drew the Court’s attention to Order 26, Rule 4 of the Rules of the Federal High Court, said a person who has been served with proceedings has seven days within which to respond.

Burkaa, who said he was ready for today’s proceedings, argued that the request to postpone the matter was incompetent.