The Chairman of Kwara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Bassey Effiong, has granted permission to serve state governor-elect, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with petition by way of substitution service.
Mr Effiong granted the permission on Thursday at the hearing of a petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate, Razak Atunwa against Mr Abdulrazaq and INEC over the qualification of the governor-elect.
When the matter was mentioned, both Mr Abdulrazaq and his lawyer were not in court.
Mr Atunwa’s counsel, Abdulazeez Ibrahim told the tribunal that he was unable to serve the respondents with copies of the petition and asked the permission of the Tribunal for substituted service.
Mr Effiong, therefore, ordered that the first and second respondents should be served by way of substitution of service.
“A copy of the service letter should be pasted at the entrance of the tribunal, another copy should be pasted at the gate of the premises of the first and second respondents,” he ordered.
The tribunal chairman adjourned the case until April 22, for report of service.
Speaking to journalists after the sitting, Mr Ibrahim said the petition was challenging the gubernatorial election held on March 9.
“We are challenging the qualification of the governor-elect and some other issues,” he said