From: Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
A Makurdi Chief Magistrate Court, on Tuesday, adjourned till October 19, 2017, for hearing of the main suit filed against a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police and Public Complaints Commissioner in charge of Benue State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav.
The Benue State Government had instituted a criminal case against Tsav through the Attorney General and Justice Commissioner, Mr. Michael Gusa, following a petition he (Tsav) had written to Governor Samuel Ortom and copied anti-graft agencies. The state government had viewed Tsav’s petition as false allegations against the Samuel Ortom-led government.
The Attorney General had, on Tuesday, resumed the criminal proceedings against Tsav after he (Tsav) failed to fulfill his earlier promise to tender a public apology to allow for an out-of-court settlement of the matter.
When the case came up, Counsel to Tsav, Agada Anthony, prayed the court to give his client more time for amicable settlement of the matter, pointing out that his client had met all conditions for an out-of-court resolution of the matter except that of a public apology.
Agada, who noted that the only grey area with the settlement was the issue of a public apology which he was still seeking ways to tender, therefore asked for the case to be adjourned to enable his client have more time to settle the matter amicably.
However, Counsel to the state government, Andrew Wombo, raised an objection to the plea, that saying that the Defendant was only playing tricks to file more applications at the Federal High Court, but agreed that the court should give a short date for adjournment.
Ruling on the case, the Chief Magistrate, Isaac Ajum, while adjourning the case, advised the Defendant to ‘bury his pride, take the bold step and tender the necessary apology to the governor especially if he knew that he was wrong.’