The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for Taraba on Saturday nullified the election of Taraba Governor, Darius Ishaku, of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress and a Minister designate, Aisha Alhassan, as the winner of the April 11 governorship election in the state.
The three-member tribunal held that Mr. Ishaku was not validly nominated as candidate of the PDP and therefore did not qualify, from start, to contest the governorship election.
Specifically, the tribunal held that the governorship primaries purportedly conducted by the PDP in the state was done in violation of section 78 (b) (1)(2) of the Electoral Act which guides parties nomination to the position of governorship candidate.
It held that contrary to the provision of the section, PDP conducted the purported primaries at its national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja with no clear delegation from the local government areas in the state.
The tribunal sustained the testimonies of the head of election monitoring of Independent National Electoral Commission that the commission was not aware of any primaries conducted by the party in line with the provision of the electoral act which produced Ishaku as the party’s flagbearer.
Section 78 (b) (1)(2) of the Electoral Act states: In the case of nomination to the position of Governorship candidate, a political party shall where they intend to sponsor candidates:
(i) hold special congress in each of the Local Government Areas of the States with delegates voting for each of the aspirants at the congress to be held in designated centres on specified dates.
(ii) the aspirant with the highest number of vote at the end of the voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries of the party and aspirant’s name shall be forwarded to the commission as the candidate of the party, for the particular state.
The tribunal said the defence by the PDP that the primaries were shifted to Abuja because of security challenges in the state was rejected by the tribunal.
It sustained the evidence of the INEC official that there was no primaries election in the state and the emergence of Mr. Ishaku through the purported election in Abuja was after the statutory stipulated time for party primaries had elapsed.
It held that since Mr. Ishaku was not duly sponsored by the PDP, the party had no candidate in the governorship election in the eyes of the law.
The tribunal therefore voided the votes of the PDP and Mr. Ishaku in the election saying “it is a waste’’ and declared the APC and its candidate, who came second, as the valid winner of the April 11 election.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to APC, Abiodun Owonikoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the judgment was a landmark being the first time the election of a governor would be nullified on the doctrine of wasted votes.
He said with the judgment, the era of impunity in party primaries was gone and it would be a lesson not only for PDP but all political parties.
On whether Mr. Ishaku will vacate the seat immediately, Mr. Owonikoko said the judgment “is not the end of the road, there is opportunity for all the parties to explore whatever the grievance they have’’.
Mr. Owonikoko added that if the governor or the party did not appeal within 21 days, Ms. Alhassan will be sworn-in as governor.
The counsel to the PDP was not available to comment on the verdict of the Tribunal as they all rushed out of the venue after the judgment.
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Forget politics and face the truth. The muslims have always wanted to take over Taraba, Benue and plateau states. They have instituted lots of mayhem and chaos using militants and Fulani cattle rearers and have failed. Now they have used this ploy and I doubt if the people will accept it. Forget tis so called tribunal headed by a paid agent and its judgement. What APC will bring to the country is about to be born. They have planted their person in Imo and at he'll bent on taking over Rivers state too with another cloned and brainwashed fella.
ReplyDeleteMy dear dont be sentimental in this issue, the question would have been 'Was it true that there was no primaries in the state as heard in the testimonies of INEC official at the tribunal?' When this thing started, people started shouting, the issue in PDP then was that once you are in the good books of Mrs. Patience Jonathan, you are the chosen one. This we all know was a bad political game. A whole lot of people left the party because of this. It happened in almost all the states-Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Rivers, Ebonyi, Lagos, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, name them. The truth is that we in PDP are not mature enough to embrace democracy. The Leadership of the party dealt with the Party and its members. This is the truth and nothing but the truth. Let us stop calling APC, Cos APC has not done anything and Buhari I know cannot align himself to such. The Ruling Was That PDP Abinitio Had No Candidate, Simple, or were you not there when all these were happening.They did it to a whole lot of us. Please do not take Panadol for another mans headache. If they like, let them learn their lesson. Useless Party.
DeleteWhy do Nigerians prefer to chase shadows instead of the object. Please read this ''It held that contrary to the provision of the section, PDP conducted the purported primaries at its national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja with no clear delegation from the local government areas in the state.
DeleteThe tribunal sustained the testimonies of the head of election monitoring of Independent National Electoral Commission that the commission was not aware of any primaries conducted by the party in line with the provision of the electoral act which produced Ishaku as the party’s flagbearer.
Section 78 (b) (1)(2) of the Electoral Act states: In the case of nomination to the position of Governorship candidate, a political party shall where they intend to sponsor candidates:
(i) hold special congress in each of the Local Government Areas of the States with delegates voting for each of the aspirants at the congress to be held in designated centres on specified dates.
(ii) the aspirant with the highest number of vote at the end of the voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries of the party and aspirant’s name shall be forwarded to the commission as the candidate of the party, for the particular state.
The tribunal said the defence by the PDP that the primaries were shifted to Abuja because of security challenges in the state was rejected by the tribunal.
It sustained the evidence of the INEC official that there was no primaries election in the state and the emergence of Mr. Ishaku through the purported election in Abuja was after the statutory stipulated time for party primaries had elapsed.
It held that since Mr. Ishaku was not duly sponsored by the PDP, the party had no candidate in the governorship election in the eyes of the law.
The tribunal therefore voided the votes of the PDP and Mr. Ishaku in the election saying “it is a waste’’ and declared the APC and its candidate, who came second, as the valid winner of the April 11 election''.
Look at u Mumu. It's like u don't follow Nigerian politics well. A Muslim has Governed Taraba before so it's not a new thing. Don't forget that is God the gives leadership then we contribute. Am very sure ure an Igbo man that's why ure talking like this, Okorocha is an Igbo man u cannot change it is just that u guys are blind cos of ur myopic thinking when it's comes to politics in Nigerian. Be wise my brother n forget about religious n tribal politics n join d winning train. Can't you just understand that is d wind of change that is blowing everywhere!!!
DeleteFunny judgement,by funny tribunal...dey held rejected d submission of holding d primary @ d wadata house because of insecurity,yet y is d election tribunal of taraba state not in jalingo???y is it in abuja....I guess its because of insecurity...but yet,dat same insecurity was rejected as a reason for holding d primary in abuja...d truth be told,PDP are thieves,no doubt,but if dey have done all dis tinz d APC is doing now,APC would not have smelled power @ all...dis people want to plunge dis country into a serious chaos,n dats not fair..y striving to make dis country a one party system,its very unacceptable...dis rubbish and foolish biased judgment will not stand d test of true law...we are watching APC in dis country....God will deliver us from dis one chance we have entered....we shall not go back to PDP either,but a better alternative shall arise,I believe..
DeleteStory for the gods...APC is worse than PDP
ReplyDeleteDont be sentimenal on issues , business will no longer be as usual God bless nigeria.
ReplyDeleteIf the judge dis case based on wasted votes, many states governors will hv to step down based on dis cos many primary elections was a fraud or was not done accordingly. Especially dat of pdp in Benue state etc. But to me, if party members resolve their differences amicably, there's no cause for alarm. Inec should've stopped d election from d initial tym than wasting so much money conducting dis election.
ReplyDeletewho are they trying to deceive me....? Why did they not find out all this thing's before the election.. Please don't provoke my anger... I said it that buhari and APC is a nothing but a propaganda old fools wolf in the midst of sheep's. We are patiently waiting to see the end of this drama
ReplyDeletemake una coolu temper. if nothing good comes out of this Govt vote them out come 2019. PDP had it for 16yrs why cant they be patient for 4yrs. So instead of propaganda and mud slinging, concentrate on your advantage and convince ppl that they can be better given the opportunity come 2019. APC stated basically from one state and took over. so if they have issues with the present Govt, use the right and responsible channels to make ur case. Remember all the propaganda and character assassination did not help Jona in the just concluded elections.
ReplyDeleteSome comments will make u wonder if the commentators r learned!! Imagine someone asking why did they not find out before election?? The very first comment sentimentally blamed this on religion , very funny , did the judge mention anything Muslim or Christian?? The second , third n fourth commentators spoke brilliantly well arguing from the side of the law . Even if you wanna swindle ur pipl , ensure its in accordance with the laws of the land . If Pdp had held primaries in d state, d votes would have been valid. Y take primaries to Abuja?? Is it that the PDP lawyers r blind to the provisions of the law?? The people of the state jubilated on this judgement , this shows acceptance . The first commentator said APC planted its pipl in Imo and plans to take over Rivers but u failed to mention Delta n Cross river where the PdP candidates were upheld , did APC plant PDP Governors their too?? When you make sentimental comments, all u need do is to read over and you will see you are bias!!!
ReplyDeleteDis a pre~election matter ooo. See Ameachi v Sylva case . Is Amy person complaining from PDP angle. I wonder. Election Tribunal is concern wit wat happened on d election conduct prooper
ReplyDeleteMost of d comments re from Ibo people. They re not patient and accommodative. They re tribalistic and retrogressive. That is why they re clamouring for Biafra nation after Jona's defeat. Make una wake up
ReplyDeleteMay thunder strike ur mouth there boko haram. Cattle rearer
DeleteMany people are just talking arrant rubbish here. This is a time we should bury our faces in shame given this type of judgement by our tribunals. I am saddened that our judiciary which started coming up after many years of relegation has once more started suddenly to degenerate into a common tool in the hands of the govt. The question every Nigeria is asking today is this: What was the matter before the tribunal? Simply put, it was a post election matter in which the APC candidate alleged massive irregularities during the election which compromised the integrity of the election and its conduct and which was instrumental in rubbing her of victory. Now, what has the tribunal got to do with PDP primaries which was not by any means a matter before it? This is the very height of judicial recklessness. We have certainly reached the bottom of judicial obscenity. Even at the ridiculous ruling of this infantile tribunal, the tribunal committed another grievous error of not nullifying the election but to declare the APC candidate the winner. This is judicial madness. Lets see if the appeal court will redeem the battered image of the judiciary by doing the needful.
ReplyDeleteIgbo people should go and rest afterall we know ur plan and it will never happen. Nigeria united we stand.
ReplyDeleteSee cattle talking. Enter under cattle and suck its milk and shut up.
DeleteWalahi talahi, the comments analyze it all. This is legal jargon and we all have to accept it. I think PDP had it in mind that they could go away with this since they were ruling and that was why they allowed it. Now that the center has crumbled, problem has come in from all sides. Holding the primaries in Abuja is not the bone of contention but the fact that the grass root people that should be involved in choosing their candidate were not involved, hence the candidate was only chosen to save the face of pdp. Well this is interpretation of law and has been done by the experts.
ReplyDeleteVery sincerely, the pdp lawyers were aware of this and had gone to the tribunal try their luck and maybe the tribunal might not go there.
Olatunji James above puts it most appropriately that Even if you wanna swindle ur pipl , ensure its in accordance with the laws of the land.
May God save the soul of our dear country Nigeria. Toks
I keep wondering what is going on and it seems we Nigerians are happy with it. A petition was brought before a tribunal and the tribunal did not even mention anything related to petition rather duelled on the matter that was not brought before her, constitution made it clear on what to do in this regards-freshh election.
ReplyDeletePolitics they said is a gain of number, why would the dull judge demanded Aisha should be sworn in as Taraba Gov. Was she elected? the gap in votes between her and Ishaku is too wide for her to claim the winner of Taraba election. Does it mean Tarabans will be forced to be governed by strangers? let this so called judges be thoroughly investigated, money has exchanged hand. If Ghana can sack their judges, this is the time GMB with his anticorruption crusade should show Nigerians example.Tarabans I salute your patient, I know if it had been in another state, things should have gone bad now.
ReplyDeleteThis judgement will fail at the higher court if judges are not bought already. Supreme Court declares that a person cannot benefit from a party primary if he or she was not a party to the said primary, did not partake in it and was not a direct recipient of the result therein. This is from supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteThis madam was not a pop member, did not partake in pop primary, and certainly, cannot be a beneficiary of such primary. These tribunal members should be probed by NJC.
Thanks.
(Mike Abe).