Court dismisses PDP’s contempt bid against KWSIEC chairman

From Godwin Tsa , Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) application seeking to commit the Chairman of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC), Baba Okanla, to prison for contempt of court.
Justice Peter Lifu struck out the application on technical grounds, holding that the contempt charge was not personally served on Okanla as required by law.
The judge ruled that since contempt proceedings are criminal in nature, the charge ought to have been served directly on Okanla.
He held that the failure of PDP’s counsel, Ademola Abimbola, to do so breached Okanla’s right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Con...