The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, in its judgment, upheld the election of Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas in the March 2023 Governorship Poll.
The three-man panel of judges dismissed the petition filed by the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) and its candidate, Sani Yahaya, challenging the victory of Agbu Kefas of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for lack of merit.
The petitioners claimed that the election was marred with irregularities such as over-voting, violence, and the announcement of election results under pressure from INEC.
They also alleged that the NNPP governorship candidate, Sani Yahaya, was the winner of the election, and hoped to reclaim the mandate in court.
The three-man panel of judges, in their judgement, however, dismissed the petition for lack of merit, citing a lot of inconsistencies in the petitioners’ submissions, and saying that the election cannot be declared invalid, yet declare the first petitioner as the winner.
Taraba State Deputy Governor, who was at the sitting, extended an olive branch to the opposition after the judgement, emphasising that the administration is operating an open-door policy.
The candidate of the PDP, Agbu Kefas, polled 257,926 votes and won in 11 out of the 16 local government areas in the state, while that of the NNPP, Sani Yahaya, scored 202,277 votes, winning in 3 local government areas, while Emmanuel Bwacha of the APC won in 2 local government areas of the state.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
