The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Agbu Kefas of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the valid winner of the governorship election held in Taraba State on March 18, 2023.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba dismissed an appeal filed by the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and its gubernatorial candidate, Prof. Sani Yahaya, as incompetent.
The five-member panel of the apex court unanimously held that the NNPP and its candidate filed an incomplete record of appeal, rendering their appeal incompetent.
This decision affirms the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld Kefas’ election victory, dismissing the NNPP’s appeal as lacking in merit.
The appellate court’s judgment, delivered on November 28, 2023, had upheld the verdict of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which declared Kefas of the PDP as the rightful winner of the gubernatorial poll. The tribunal had dismissed the NNPP’s petition as legally incompetent.
In its ruling, the appellate court faulted the petitioners for seeking inconsistent prayers, noting that they simultaneously requested the nullification of the election and to be declared the winner. Such contradictory demands, the court emphasized, lacked a legal or factual basis.
The Supreme Court further emphasized that the tribunal should have upheld Governor Kefas’ preliminary objection and struck out the petition for incompetence.
Dissatisfied with the judgments of both the tribunal and the appellate court, the NNPP and its candidate pursued their case before the Supreme Court.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Kefas as the winner of the governorship contest, having garnered 302,614 votes, while Prof. Yahaya of the NNPP secured 202,277 votes.
Despite the NNPP’s allegations of irregularities, the tribunal dismissed their petition, a decision now affirmed by the Supreme Court.
