NNPP urges return as winner of Taraba guber poll
S’court reserves judgments in Nasarawa, Kebbi appeals
NEW Nigeria Peoples Party ( NNPP), yesterday, urged the Supreme Court to declare its candidate, Prof Yahaya Muhammed Bello, winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Taraba State.
Its Acting National Chairman, Abba Kawu Ali, in a statement, alleged result manipulation, over- voting and violence during the exercise.
The party further claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) disregarded their request for a review of the election results.
Ali said: “The Leadership of NNPP is appealing to the apex court to restore the hope of Nigerians in the electoral system and process by giving critical look into the complaints of the good people of Taraba State, who lawfully and genuinely voted for Yahaya Muhammed Bello of the NNPP as governor during the March 18 governorship election in the state. This will, in large extent, normalise our electoral system and process, and sanitise it reasonably for future elections.”
Besides, the apex court has reserved judgments in the gubernatorial appeals relating to Nasarawa and Kebbi states.
On Nasarawa, the legal battle is between the incumbent, Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress APC and the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) and its candidate, David Ombugadu.
During yesterday’s proceedings, lead counsel to PDP and its standard- bearer appealed to the court to set aside the November 23 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which returned Sule as lawfully elected.
After taking arguments from lawyers, Justice Kudirat Kekere- Ekun announced that judgment had been reserved and a date for its delivery would be communicated to all parties.
The appellate court had overturned the October 2 verdict of the State Election Petitions Tribunal that unseated Sule Nasarawa helmsman.
It held that the tribunal, headed by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, acted in error in using witness statements on oath, not front- loaded as required by law, to nullify the governor’s election.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the appellate court held that the tribunal was legally bound to act on witness statements filed along with the petition or front- loaded within 21 days, as stipulated by law.
The court maintained that no petition could lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law, as wrongly done by the tribunal. INEC had credited Sule with 347,209 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ombugadu, who polled 283,016 ballots. In Kebbi, the Supreme Court adjourned till a later date to deliver ruling in the election dispute involving Nasir Idris of APC and Aminu Bande of the PDP.
The five- man panel, led by Justice Kekere- Ekun, reserved judgment after parties in the petition adopted their processes. At yesterday’s hearing, the respondent counsel urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit and uphold the judgments of the lower courts that returned Idris as state governor.
The appellant lawyers, while adopting their processes urged the apex court to find merit in the appeal and allow it.
A three- member panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, in a unanimous judgment, delivered by Justice Ndukwe Anyannwu, had dismissed the appeal filed by PDP and its flag- bearer, Bande, for lack of merit.
It, therefore, resolved all the five issues formulated for determination in favour of the governor.
The electoral umpire had declared Idris winner of the poll with 409,225 votes as against the 360,940 ballots secured by Bande.