No APC governorship primary Taraba State, says S’Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday nullified the election of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Taraba State in the March 11 elections.

The apex court, in a judgement 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 judgement of the Court of Appeal Yola Division, which had on November 24, 2022, reinstated Bwacha as the APC governorship candidate.

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.

The court agreed that the results of the APC primary election were fraudulently allocated to the 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 Independent National Electoral Commission to stop recognising of Bwacha as the candidate of the party.

In his reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Kente described the judgement as a land mark decision that brought hope to the people of Taraba State.