A panel constituted by the Appeal Court to consider the Taraba State Governorship election matter will sit on Monday.
The panel will consider appeal filed by Governor Darius Ishaku (candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party) against the governorship tribunal ruling which declared Aisha Alhassan (candidate of the All Progressives Congress) winner of the polls.
In the ruling, the tribunal noted that PDP did not conduct primaries and that Ishaku was not duly elected by delegates of the party to carry it’s flag at the poll, an action that was in clear violation of the Electoral Act.
The tribunal added that in view of that violation, all votes secured by the governor were considered “wasted”.
Following the ruling, the governor approached the Appeal Court, but several analysts and groups within and outside the state have insisted that there is no way he can remain governor since ” he did not emerge through the right process”.
A political analyst in Taraba State, Bitrus Yandede expressed optimism that the appellate court will uphold the election.
He maintained that the PDP erred by not conducting a proper election.
“The Justice Musa Abubakar led tribunal worked with report of the deputy director of INEC, who was posted to the state to monitor the PDP primaries. The report indicated that while the INEC deputy director and other principal officers of the commission were in Jalingo,the state leaders of the party refused to conduct the primaries as required by the Electoral law”, he said.
He added that, “nobody can change the established law of the country. I know that the PDP will get the same ruling they got at the tribunal”.
