Taraba Guber Poll: Tribunal reserves judgment in NNPP petition against Kefas

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

Yahya is attempting to have the election he claims was tainted by irregularities thrown out of court.

Shortly after the suit’s parties adopted their last written addresses, the tribunal reserved decision.

The tribunal’s chairman, Justice G.A. Sunmonu, has promised to notify the parties as soon as a date is fixed for delivering a verdict.

Barrister Ibrahim Ishaku, lead counsel for the NNPP candidate, fielded questions from journalists after the court session and said his client’s choice to seek redress at the tribunal was motivated by anomalies that characterized the election.

An apparent breakdown of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) equipment during the election to authenticate voters “was a clear indication that results declared from some of the polling units were not authentic,” as stated by Ishaku.

The attorney, who also claimed that the results were rigged in the PDP’s favor, said that “over-voting” occurred in the state as evidenced by the INEC’s announcement of the results.

Ishiaku, who had previously urged for the election to be canceled, cited INEC reports as evidence that violence had broken out during vote tallying due to random gunfire from security forces.

Barrister Emeka Okoro, SAN, counsel to INEC, responded to Ishaku’s assertions in an interview with journalists by saying that the law does not function on hearsay but on genuine proof.

Okoro requested that the tribunal throw out the petition because it was without merit.

Barrister Kalu Agabi, SAN, counsel for the PDP, refuses to answer reporters’ questions despite repeated attempts to get in touch with him.