Emmanuel Awari-Jalingo
The Court of Appeal sitting in Yola has upturned the judgement of the Federal High Court, Jalingo, which had earlier declared their candidature of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha of the APC as null and void.
It also set aside the judgement of the lower court which disqualifies Senator Emmanuel Bwacha of the APC to contest the 2023 governorship election in Taraba state.
The three-man Justices of Tani Yusuf Hassan, M.O Bolaji and James Abodego set aside the judgment of the Yola Federal High Court which earlier nullified the governorship primary elections of the APC declaring that the party has no candidate for the forthcoming elections.
The Appeal Court while passing its judgement ordered that the name of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha be submitted to the Independent National Electoral
Commission as the substantive candidate of the APC for the 2023 election in Taraba state.
The Appeal Court also affirmed Senator Emmanuel Bwacha and Iliyasu Idris Kirim as the substantive governorship candidate and his deputy governorship for the 2023 general election.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha described his victory at the appeal court as a special gift from God to liberate Tarabans from the state of agony.
The Bwacha gurbernatorial Campaign Director of Media and Publicity, Aaron Artimas, quoted the governorship candidate as congratulating the entire people of Taraba state for the landmark victory,
“The Court of Appeal sitting in Yola unanimously declared Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the authentic and lawfully nominated Gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Taraba State for the 2023 General Elections. This historic and monumental judgement sets aside the Jalingo Federal High Court judgement which purportedly voided his candidature.
“In a summary judgement, the Appeal Court ruled that the institutions authorized by law to monitor and authenticate the conduct of primaries are the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC and the Security Agencies and the respective organisations have presented reports to the effect that the primaries had been successfully conducted.
“The Court held that the lower court merely engaged itself in academic exercise by exploring into irrelevant issues. The Bwacha Gubernatorial Campaign Council, BGCC heartily welcomes this.
“The Judgement is not only as the vindication of our faith in the Nigeria Judiciary but also a divine answer to the prayers of millions of Tarabans.
“In a message to the Council, the Gubernatorial Candidate Senator Emmanuel Bwacha congratulated the entire people of Taraba State for this landmark victory. He said the Court victory was a special gift from God to the long suffering people of Taraba and appealed to them to brace up for the real struggle ahead.
“Senator Bwacha promised to take his campaign to all the nocks and crannies of the State in order to directly engage with the people and to acquaint himself with their problems. He also called on his supporters to be magnanimous in victory by conducting themselves in a lawful manner” Artimas expressed.
The Court however directed that Senator Emmanuel Bwacha of the APC in Taraba whose candidature was equally quashed by the Federal High Court sitting in Yola is reinstated.
The Court also directed INEC to include the name of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha in the governorship list of Taraba State in the forthcoming election.
