The Federal High Court in Jalingo, Taraba State, has granted an order for substituted service on the All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa.
The order was issued yesterday following the alleged inability to personally serve the APC chairman with court processes in a suit challenging the outcome of the party’s recent state chairmanship primary election.
One of the aspirants in the primary, Alhaji Abdulhadi Lau, dragged the APC and its state chairman before the court, accusing them of irregularities and failing to provide a level playing field for all contestants during the exercise.
After the court session, counsel to the plaintiff, Pius D. Pius, told journalists that the matter could not proceed as scheduled because the defendant had not been served.
“The case was supposed to come up today, but we discovered that the APC chairman had not been served with the court processes. We therefore applied for substituted service, and the court has granted an order permitting the originating processes to be pasted at the APC secretariat,” Pius said.
He added that several attempts were made to serve Alhaji Bawa personally, but the chairman was consistently unavailable, which the plaintiff’s team described as evasion of service.
The court, after listening to the application, approved the substituted service and adjourned the matter to June 8, 2026, for further hearing.
The ruling is expected to allow the case to move forward without further delays caused by issues of service, as the court processes will now be officially pasted at the APC state secretariat.
This development represents a significant step in the legal challenge against the conduct and outcome of the Taraba APC chairmanship primary.
By
TheTimes Nigeria
