The suit challenging the creation of Fufore Emirtate in Adamawa State has been adjourned over issue of jurisdiction of the court entertaining it.

Before the adjournment to July 14, tension rose at the High Court in Yola, when defence and plaintiff counsels clashed over the court’s legal competence.

After the judge walked into the court room for the day’s session, he entertained arguments on two motions for stay of proceedings filed by the defense counsel, the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Afraimu Jingi, stemming from their appeal at the Court of Appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the high court over the suit.

After the verbal fire works by the counsels, Justice Usman fixed the July 14 date over the matter of jurisdiction.

In an interview after the court session, the defense counsel told newsmen, “We have always maintained that the court must first determine whether it has jurisdiction before proceeding.”

On his part, the plaintiff’s lead counsel, Manga Nuruddeen, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), explained: “We adjourned this matter for hearing today, but unfortunately, the defense filed two motions for a stay of proceedings because of their so-called appeal.”

The Adamawa State Government had created the Fufore Emirate last year, an action that divided opinions across the state and prompted the court case.

The plaintiffs in the case, Musa Halilu Ahmed (Dujima Adamawa), Mustapha Dahiru Mustapha (Yeriman Adamawa), and Mustapha Ahmad (Sarkin Noma Adamawa) are prominent traditional stakeholders who approached the court to nullify the creation of the Fufore Emirate on claims that undermines the territorial integrity of the Adamawa Emirate from which it was carved.

The state government, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the state Chief Judge Hapsat Abdulrahman, and the newly installed Emir of Fufore, Muhammad Sani Ribadu, are listed as the defendants in the suit. (The Nation)

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