DAILY COURIER
David Arin, Jane Otu, Calabar
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, has set aside a judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, which nullified the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election in Taraba State.
DAILY COURIER reports that the lower Court, on September 20, 2022, sacked Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, as candidate of the APC, for the 2023 governorship election in Taraba.
The primary election was contested by two of the governorship aspirants, Chief David Sabo Kente and Senator Abubakar Yusuf, who alleged irregularities in the exercise.
Bwacha had filed an appeal to challenge the ruling of the Federal High Court, which nullified his victory.
In a ruling on Thursday, the appellate court upheld the election of Bwacha, as the governorship candidate of the APC in Taraba State.
Justice Tani Yusuf, who led the 3-man panel on Thursday, set aside the earlier judgement of the federal high court in Jalingo.
Reacting to the judgement, Bwacha described the ruling as a victory for democracy, the people of Taraba State and the APC.
The APC governorship candidate, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Reqwesin Muri, said the Appeal Court’s judgement was a true reflection of the conduct of the party’s governorship primary election in Taraba State.
“We listened to the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court in Jalingo in September, we kept wondering why the Judge ignored all the reports from the national secretariat of the APC, the panel that conducted the primaries also submitted their report, but it was ignored.
“We want to thank the supporters of Senator Bwacha, members of APC in the State and the media for standing by the truth till today.
“I also want to assure the people of the State of the commitment of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha to rescue the State from the PDP’s bad governance if elected as the governor of Taraba State come 2023″, Muri stated.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal, Yola, has declared Aishatu Binani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state, for the 2023 elections.
A Federal High Court, in October, nullified the APC primary that produced Binani as the party’s governorship candidate, after Nuhu Ribadu challenged her victory at the poll.
The former EFCC boss, who came second during the exercise, dragged Binani and INEC before the court. He had alleged vote buying and illegal delegates list at the primary conducted on May 27, 2022.
Delivering judgement, Justice Abdulaziz Anka sacked Binani based on substantial evidence of non-compliance with the party guidelines and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, the appellate court, on Thursday, set aside Justice Anka’s judgement.
The court ordered that Binani’s name should be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Court sacks Tonye Cole as Rivers APC guber candidate
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has disqualified Tonye Cole, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
The ruling followed a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, praying the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not to recognize Tonye Cole as the governorship candidate for the 2023 elections.
The party had alleged that Cole holds dual citizenship (Nigeria and the United Kingdom). It also alleged that the primary election that produced him did not follow due process having not been monitored by INEC.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Emmanuel Obile, held that Tonye Cole is ineligible to contest the governorship position.
The court also ruled that the APC did not comply with the Electoral Act in the primary election where Cole emerged as the candidate of the party. It directed the INEC to delist his name as an eligible candidate for the 2023 Governorship election.
Speaking to newsmen outside the courtroom, counsel to the PDP, Dike Udenna, expressed happiness over the judgment, which he said means that APC has no governorship candidate for the 2023 General election.
On his part, counsel to the APC, Collins Dike, said the APC will challenge the judgement at the Court of Appeal.
He said the constitution of Nigeria allows him to contest the Governorship election having been born in Nigeria.
The lawyer said Tonye Cole “voluntarily acquired the citizenship of the United Kingdom”, which does not prevent him from taking part in the election
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