Emmanuel Awari-Jalingo
The Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo has rule on the case filed by a opposition within the All Progressive Congress APC on case that the Party has no candidate for the coming Governorship election in the state.
The presiding judge, Justice Bala Usman affirmed the name of Emmanuel Bwacha, the APC gubernatorial candidate for Taraba, is on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and cleared him to contest the March 11 governorship election.
The session resolved that the name of Emmanuel Bwacha be published in the INEC portal if deleted as the governorship candidate in the March 11 elections.
Bwacha filed a suit at the Federal High Court Jalingo division requesting INEC to clear the controversy about whether his name was on the INEC portal or otherwise.
The presiding judge, Justice Usman, also advised that his ruling had nothing to do with the Supreme Court judgement.
“I am strictly concerned with the fresh election conducted on February 10. It is not within my privy to interpret it and I don't intend to do that,” he stated.
Counsel to Bwacha, Festus Idepefo (SAN), narrated how his client emerged victorious in the case that lasted for days.
“As rightly pointed out by his Lordship, the case has nothing to do with the Supreme Court judgement that was delivered on 1st February.
“The judgement of the Federal High Court that was upheld by the Supreme Court had the consequential order that a fresh primary election should be conducted. And after the conduct of a fresh primary election, Emmanuel Bwacha emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
“The conduct of the primary election was monitored by the commission and so if anyone was dissatisfied with the conduct of the primary, there is only one way to challenge the outcome of the primary and it was for an aggrieved party to file a pre-election matter. Nobody filed a pre-election matter to challenge the primary election.
“What the court decided was that in the absence of any contestation over that issue of the primary election, the Independent National Electoral Commission has no power to exercise the power of the court to delist the name of Emmanuel Bwacha from their cyber having accepted the nomination made to it by the political party has published the name of the candidate on the portal.
“The INEC can not midway to the election exercise the power of a court since nobody is complaining about the outcome of the primary conducted by the All Progressives Congress on 10 February 2023,” he stated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on its part, said INEC as a Commission has never at point in time dislisted senator Emmanuel Bwacha is name from it's Portal.
On his part, the leading counsel to Chief David Sabo Kente, Barrister Oguche Joseph, said they were in court because David Kete vs Bwacha over supreme Court ruling that disqualified Bwacha been rigthful candidate of APC in March 11th 2023 governorship and State assembly election
Commenting on the judgement, the Director Media and Publicity, Bwacha Gubernatorial Camping Council, Mr. Aaron Artimas while briefing newsmen shortly after the judgement, commend the Federal High Court for doing justice to the case.
