Certificate forgery: Court adjourns suit against Obaseki to November 18

TRACKING____The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday adjourned hearing in the Certificate forgery suit filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State till November 18.Although the suit was slated for hearing yesterday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, however, put it off till Wednesday following submissions by Obaseki’s counsel, Ken Mozia (SAN) that all pending motions relating to pleadings must first be resolved before going into the substantive matter.Mozia specifically asked the court to allow him to move his motion challenging the competence of the reply filed by the APC to the defence of Governor Obaseki in the matter.Meanwhile, APC counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) objected to the position of Obaseki on the pending motions and prayed the court to defer all the pending applications and allow him to go straight into the substantive matter by calling his witnesses, who were in court.But, counsel to the PDP, Razak Isenalumhe aligned himself with Obaseki’s position that all pending motions be resolved first before delving into the main matter.However, in a short ruling, Justice Mohammed held that the motion of Obaseki challenging the competence of APC’s reply to his defense is fundamental because it related to the pleadings and has to be resolved firstThe judge said that filing of pleadings cannot be said to have been completed when motion challenging the competence of a reply to defence has not been resolved.