The Taraba Elections Petition Tribunal on Monday evening upheld the election of two candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Batulu Mohammed of Gashaka State Constituency and Abel Peter of Mbamnga Constituency.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the Tribunal also upturned the victory of Nuhu Akila of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency in favour of the petitioner, Emmanuel George of the APC.
The Tribunal’s rulings were based on petitions challenging the qualification of the respondents and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The Tribunal was presided over by Justice Benson Ogbu. The judge ordered that the certificate of return be retrieved from Akila and returned to George of the APC.
The suits instituted at the Tribunal are against Batulu Mohammed of the APC for Gashaka State Constituency by Umar Gayam of the PDP and Emma Bongo of the PDP against Abel Peter of the APC for Mbamnga State Constituency.
In the suit by Mohammed Gayam of the PDP, counsel to the respondent, Mohammed Bashir, said the petition was dismissed for “lack of merit”.
“The Tribunal entered judgment for the respondent that there was substantial non-compliance as alleged by the petitioners. So the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking in merit because they were unable to prove their case,” Bashir stated.
Reacting, Emmanuel George expressed his pleasure over the judgement, saying, “Justice has prevailed. We have said earlier that we have won a majority of the lawful votes that were cast.
“It was sorted and counted out in the full glare of the public and the Tribunal has affirmed that I am the true winner of that election. They went ahead to say INEC should retrieve the certificate of return and also return me immediately,” he said.
