By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—THE Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, Edo State, yesterday, adjourned to April 4, 2016, hearing in the contempt  proceedings initiated against the Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Victor Edoror and the Clerk of the House, Mr. Lawson Ugiagbe, over their refusal to swear in the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Sylvanus Eruaga, as the representative of Etsako West constituency  II, in the House to enable both parties to reconcile their internal differences on the matter.

Although Edoror and Ugiagbe were not present in court, they were represented by the Solicitor-General of the state, Mr. Oluwole Iyamu, while the All Progressives Congress, APC, its  chairman, Anselm Ojezua, and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were represented by Ken Mozia, SAN, and Matthew Ugwuocha, respectively.

Iyamu told the court that his client had not breached any order of the court, as it had withdrawn the certificate of return from Yakubu and given it to Eruaga.

He added that what was left to do was administrative, which the appellant ought not to have  brought before the court, in order to avoid an abuse of court processes.

“There is no order of the Court of Appeal that has been breached,” Iyamu said.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Olukayode Bada, expressed displeasure that the matter had been allowed to deteriorate.

Justice Bada, who admonished counsel in the case, said, “If we continue like this, this country will crash.

“Nobody knows it all. Let everything settle down. It is in the best interest of all to allow peace to reign. Let us put in a second thought and look at it again,” he added.