The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned a N10 billion rights suit filed by a Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike, against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, until July 22 for further mention.
Justice Salim Ibrahim adjourned the case following an application for adjournment moved by counsel to the plaintiff, L.T. Adeh, to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to appear in court on the next adjourned date.
When the matter was called, Adeh informed the court that the 1st respondent (Olayinka) had served its processes on them in response to the suit.
He said he would file his response to the Olayinka’s counter-affidavit between Thursday and Friday.
Adeh further told the court that though hearing notices were duly served on both respondents, the 2nd respondent (INEC) was absent.
He consequently prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the electoral body to appear.
Olayinka’s lawyer, Akpama Ekwe, did not oppose the application but told the court he was prepared to proceed with the matter.
Justice Ibrahim said he would grant a short adjournment in the interest of a fair hearing and to afford INEC an opportunity to appear before the court.
Ekwe, however, urged the court to fix the matter for hearing, arguing that INEC could not be compelled to appear.
The judge maintained that the short adjournment was intended to give the commission an opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
He subsequently adjourned the case until July 22 for further mention.
The court also ordered that INEC be issued and served with hearing notice alongside all processes filed in the suit before the next adjourned date.
The Nollywood actor, who aspired to vie for the House of Representatives’ seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency, Abuja, for the 2027 general elections on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), lost the bid in a primary poll.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister’s aide, through a post on “X” in May, was alleged to have mocked Ike by leaking his confidential voter registration details on social media.
