Taraba APC guber: S’Court nullifies Bwacha as APC candidate

The Supreme Court in Abuja, yesterday, nullified the election of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the gubernatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Taraba State in the March 11, 2023 elections.

In a judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court, Jalingo, Taraba State, which nullified the election of Bwacha.

The apex court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Yola Division, which had, on November 24, 2022, reinstated Bwacha as governorship candidate of the APC.

A five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, upheld the judgment of the trial court, which had ordered a fresh primary election within 14 days.

The apex court said there was no valid APC primary election conducted in Taraba State. It agreed that the result of the primary was fraudulently allocated to the candidate.

The court said: “The appeal is allowed and parties bear their respective cost.”

Recall that the Court of Appeal had reinstated Bwacha as the APC governorship candidate in Taraba State.

In a unanimous decision, a three-man panel, led by Justice Tani Yusuf Hassan, set aside the judgment of the trial court and ruled in favour of Bwacha.

A Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo had, thereafter, nullified the election of Bwacha as the governorship candidate. The court also ordered that a fresh primary be conducted to elect a new governorship candidate.

The High Court ruling followed a petition filed before the court by one of the aspirants, David Sabo 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 (INEC) to stop recognising Bwacha as the candidate of the party.