Posted by On Tuesday evening, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld Kefas Agbu’s election as Taraba State governor.
The appellate court held that the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its governorship candidate, Prof. Yahaya Sani, who were the appellants, were not consistent in their petition against the March 28 governorship election in a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Peter Affen.
While the NNPP and Sani sought the annulment of the election due to noncompliance with the electoral act, they also urged the court to declare them the winners of the same election due to a majority of legitimate votes cast.
The court ruled that it is illegal for any litigant, such as the NNPP and its governorship candidate, to be both hot and cold at the same time.
He went on to say that, having asked for the election to be declared null and void due to noncompliance with the electoral statute, the alternative prayer that they be declared the winner of the same election has no legs to stand on.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled that the appellants’ record of proceedings submitted to the court was incomplete, rendering their appeal ineffective.
As a result, Justice Affen dismissed the appeal for lack of merit and upheld the decision of a tribunal that had previously denied the petition.
janescope recalls that on September 30, a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Ayo Sunmonu of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition brought by the NNPP and its governorship candidate as lacking substance.