ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday sets aside the judgement of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which sacked Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA), Justice Abdul Aboki, who led four other members of the panel, set aside the earlier decision of the tribunal and affirmed Ishaku as the duly elected governor of the state.
Justice Musa Abubakar -led tribunal had in a petition by the APC and its governorship candidate, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan held that the nomination of Ishaku by the PDP breached Section 85 of the Electoral Act , 2010 and ordered Ishaku to vacate office.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Ishaku filed an appeal, asking the appellate court to set aside the judgement of the tribunal.
Justice Aboki, who read the unanimous judgement, held that it was a gross misdirection for the tribunal to have declared Alhassan winner of the April 11, 2015 governorship election on the grounds that she scored the second highest number of votes in the election.
The appellate court also held that from the evidence of witnesses to the petitioners before the tribunal, Ishaku was validly elected and sponsored by his party, the PDP to vie for the governorship seat of the state in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) , the Electoral Act and in accordance with the election guidelines by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Aboki said, “Therefore, the judgement of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal is hereby declared null, void and set aside in its entirety. The appellant’s appeal is meritorious and it is hereby allowed”.
According to the JCA, the APC and its governorship candidate have no right under the law to challenge the primary election of the PDP, which produced Ishaku as its candidate for the election as none of them is a member of the PDP.
He further held that INEC superintend activities of political parties and if there is any breach or failure of the PDP to give the electoral body 21 day-notice of its primaries as alleged, it shouldn’t be the headache of the APC and its governorship candidate, adding that the only person that can complain of the conduct of a party‘s primary election is the person that participated in the said primary election and INEC.
According to the court, the Electoral Act states the procedures for the election and sponsorship of a candidate by a political party and that the right to complain is limited to participants in the primary election.
Credit: Leadership (Nigeria)
