Anybody can commence procedure – Ex -Senate President
By Mumini AbdulKareem
Consequent upon the counsel of Justice Abiodun Adebara of the Kwara State High Court Ilorin for parties involved in the controversial issue of the demolition of Ile-Arugbo to explore out-of-court settlement, the litigants are yet to commence the process, National Pilot can report.
This development is coming ahead of the next hearing of the suite scheduled for coming Friday.
During the commencement of the case on Wednesday, Justice Adebara advised the Kwara State Government and the former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki to rather consider an amicable settlement of the matter in the interest of peace and justice in the state.
But it appears both parties are waiting for who will initiate the settlement process in line with the recommendation of the court.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and the former Senate President spoke on the issue through their counsel, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo and AbdulAziz Ibrahim (SAN) respectively.
According to Jawondo, the onus lies on their opponent to initiate the process of the settlement since they approached the court in the first place, a position that was contradicted by the lawyer to the former Senate President.
“We are yet to hear from the other party but we are waiting for them. They are the ones that went to court”, he added. But asked whether the government will obliged Saraki if he makes the move towards resolution of the issue, the Commissioner said “It is their approach that will determine our response”.
On his part, Bar Ibrahim (SAN), told this reporter that “We have not started (the process), we have to be patient for a while. We’ll see how it goes before the date of the next adjournment. But we’ll make arrangement to meet with them and see we what we can do before the next adjournment date on Friday.
“Any of us can initiate settlement, whether the person that went to court or the one that is sued. The court that advised us did not say we should go or they should come”, he noted.
Recall that following the demolition that birthed the litigation, top leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and loyalists of the former Senate President including Alhaji Kawu Baraje, had stormed that court premises on Wednesday for the hearing of the highly anticipated case.
The case has reportedly further polarised the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Sarakites in the party were said to be angered by the action of the Governor without carrying the Minister of State, Gbemisola Saraki along.
President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly intervened on the matter calling on the warring parties to sheath swords.
