The Taraba Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Jalingo has sacked the victory of Nuhu Akila of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Assembly election.

The Tribunal, led by Justice Benson Ogbu, ordered that the certificate of return be retrieved from Akila and returned to Emmanuel George of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

George, speaking regarding his victory, expressed his satisfaction with the Tribunal’s decision and the reaffirmation of his electoral victory.

“Justice has prevailed. We have said earlier that we have won a majority of the lawful votes that were cast. It was sorted and counted out in the full glare of the public and the Tribunal has affirmed that I am the true winner of that election. They went ahead to say INEC should retrieve the certificate of return and also return me immediately,” George said.

The judge also dismissed two petitions against elected members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Taraba State House of Assembly.

The suits instituted at the Tribunal are against Batulu Mohammed of the APC for Gashaka State Constituency by Umar Gayam of the PDP and Emma Bongo of the PDP against Abel Peter of the APC for Mbamnga State Constituency.

The petitions were rooted in two main grounds: the alleged non-qualification of the candidates and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. However, both of these claims were dismissed by the Tribunal.

In the suit by Mohammed Gayam of the PDP, counsel to the respondent, Mohammed Bashir, said the petition was dismissed for “lack of merit”.

“The Tribunal entered judgement for the respondent that there was substantial non-compliance as alleged by the petitioners. So the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking in merit because they were unable to prove their case,” Bashir stated.
[ad unit=2]