Supreme Court Affirms Kefas Agbu as PDP Guber Candidate for Taraba state

Supreme Court Affirms Kefas Agbu as PDP Guber Candidate for Taraba state

By Bodunrin kayode

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has affirmed Colonel Kefas Agbu as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State following Agbu the March 11th governorship primary election.

In a judgment on Friday the Apex Court upheld the decision of the Court of appeal sitting in Yola, that dismissed two different suits challenging the eligibility of Kefas Agbu a retired Colonel as candidate of the Party in Taraba State.

According to Justice Emmanuel Agim, the appellants (Professor Jerome Nyameh) acted in breach of Section 84 and 87(9) of the Electoral Act by failing to make use of the primary election dispute mechanism as contained in the party’s guidelines.

The Apex Court said, both appeals were deemed premature and lacking in merit as they were instituted without exploring the internal party options to seek redress before heading to court.

The Court further stated that failure of the appellants to include other aspirants who took part in the primary at the early stages of the trial robbed them of rights to fair hearing.

As a result, Justice Emmanuel Agim, dismissed the appeal for lack of merit.

This reporter recalls that, the Yola division of the Court of Appeal had affirmed Kefas Agbu as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State.

The three-man panel of justices dismissed the appeal brought by Professor Jerome Nyameh challenging the ruling of the Federal High Court, Jalingo, which earlier upheld the primary election that produced Kefas as PDP governorship candidate in the State.

In another judgment by the Appeal Court in the suit filed by another governorship aspirants Hilkiah Mafindi, the court also affirmed Kefas as the PDP governorship candidate and dismissed the appeal brought by the appellant.

Not satisfied with the appellate court’s decision, Professor Jerome Nyameh, who believed that his case had merits , immediately proceeded to the Apex court, calling for the disqualification of the party’s governorship on the grounds that Kefas did not purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms of the party.

Nyameh, claimed that the candidate was the party chairman and wants the court to restrain him from contesting for the governorship position of the state on the platform of the PDP come 2023.

The confirmation of Kefas Agbu as PDP Candidate by the Supreme Court, has now put to rest the wranglings between an aggrieved guber aspirant, Professor Jerome Nyameh and the party’s candidate , as well as the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Chatting with newsmen later Agbu expressed happiness with the supreme court Judgement assuring that he will work for the development of Taraba state if he wins the on coming election

Supreme Court Affirms Kefas Agbu as PDP Guber Candidate for Taraba state