Appeal Court Restores Bwacha, Binani's Governorship Candidacy
The Court of Appeal sitting in Yola has restored Emmanuel Bwacha and Aishatu Binani as the governorship candidates of the All Progressive Congress, APC in Taraba and Adamawa states respectively.
The court on Thursday ordered that their names should be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as APC governorship candidates for both states.
In September, Justice Simon Amobeda of a Federal High Court in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, sacked Bwacha after a petition by an ex-aspirant, David Kente.
The judge had argued that it is not possible for all the primary results to have the same handwriting while the returning officer declared that no primary was held in the state at the police headquarters due to security threats.
The former Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate later appealed the judgement and alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State is the major cause of the APC problems within the state.
Similarly, in October, a federal high court in Yola nullified the APC primary that produced Binani as the party’s governorship candidate for Adamawa.
The court had declared that there would be no candidate for the APC in the state for the 2023 elections.
Binani, the senator representing Adamawa central, defeated Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Jibrilla Bindow, former governor of the state, to win the primary held on May 26
Binani polled 430 votes to beat Bindow who had 103 votes and Ribadu, who secured 288 votes.
Aggrieved by the outcome of the election, Ribadu instituted a suit challenging the victory of Binani
In the judgment, Abdulaziz Anka, the presiding judge, nullified the entire primary election.
He ruled that the process was not compliant with the 2022 Electoral Act, the Nigerian constitution, and the party guidelines.
The judge said Binani’s victory was in clear contravention of Section 85 of the Electoral Act because there was “manifest overvoting”.