By Ebere Agozie
The Supreme Court on has Wednesday nullified the election of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Taraba in the March 11 elections.
The apex court in a judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court Jalingo that nullified the election of Bwacha as the APC governorship candidate in the state.
It also set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal Yola Division, which had on Nov. 24, 2022, reinstated Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the APC in the forthcoming general elections.
The five-member panel of justices upheld the judgement of the trial court which had ordered for a fresh primary election within 14 days and parties to bear their respective costs.
It held that there was no valid APC Primary elections conducted in Taraba state.
The court agreed that the results of the primary election were purported and fraudulently allocated to the candidate.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that, the Court of Appeal, Yola division had reinstated Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the APC in Taraba state.
In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel led by Justice Tani Hassan set aside the judgment of the trial court and ruled in favour of Bwacha.
A Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, had nullified the election of Bwacha as the APC governorship candidate.
The court also ordered that a fresh primary election should be conducted by the party to elect a new governorship candidate.
The High Court ruling followed a petition filed before the court by one of the aspirants, David Kente.
Kente had told the court that no governorship primary election was held in Taraba.
Justice Simon Amobeda subsequently nullified Bwacha’s election and ordered a fresh primary within 14 days.
The judge also ordered the electoral commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop recognising of Bwacha as the candidate of the party.
Reacting to the Judgment in an interview, Kente, the appellant who was also an aspirant described the judgment as a landmark decision that brought hope to the people of Taraba. (NAN)
