Taraba guber poll: Tribunal reserves judgment in NNPP petition against Kefas

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Monday reserved judgment in the petition filed by the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Professor Sani M. Yahya, to challenge the victory of Governor Agbu Kefas of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

Yahya is seeking the nullification of the election which he alleged was marred by malpractices.

The tribunal reserved judgment shortly after the parties in the suit adopted their final written addresses.

The chairman of the tribunal, Justice G.A Sunmonu, said the parties would be informed as soon as a date is set to deliver judgement.

Fielding questions from journalists after the court session, lead counsel to the NNPP candidate, Barrister Ibrahim Ishaku, said irregularities that characterised the election informed his client’s decision to seek redress at the tribunal.

According to Ishaku, the alleged failure of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) machine to accredit voters during the election “was a clear indication that results declared from some of the polling units were not authentic”.

The counsel, who also alleged that results were altered in favour of the PDP, said the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “showed that there was over-voting in the state”.

Calling for the cancellation of the election, Ishiaku recalled that INEC had earlier admitted in its reports that the collation exercise was marred by violence caused by sporadic gunshots fired by soldiers and policemen.

Countering Ishaku’s claims, counsel to INEC, Barrister Emeka Okoro, SAN, in a chat with journalists, argued that the law does not work on hearsay but on genuine evidence.

Okoro urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking merit.

Attempts to speak with the PDP counsel, Barrister Kalu Agabi (SAN) were not successful as he declined questions from journalists.