Group tasks Supreme Court justices on Taraba governorship dispute
A Lagos based civil society group, Nigerian Democratic Watch (NDW) has called on justices of the Supreme Court to do justice in the Taraba state governorship election petition.
In a statement issued by the coordinator, Comrade Wasiu Adegbola in Lagos on Sunday, the group urged the apex court to award victory to the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Mallam Sani Yahaya, who it stated won the election convincingly.
According to Adegbola, there was the need for the apex court to right the miscarriage of justice carried out by both the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
While commending the apex court for the various judgments relating to the outcomes of the governorship poll in states across the country, the group urged the court not to discountenance the cry of the returning officer for the election, Professor Muhammad Ahmed AbdulAzeez.
Professor AbdulAzeez, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi state, had stated that he declared the outcome of the election under duress.
The university don had in his report to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), dated 23rd March, 2023, raised observation and complaints from members of the NNPP, citing widespread irregularities.
According to him, he declared Kefas Agbu of the Peoples Democratic Party “under duress and tension” and as such review ought to take place in Abuja after application for review.”
Commenting further, Adegbola said, “We are happy that the judiciary has come out to correct itself, thereby restoring the confidence of the people in it as the last hope of the common man.
“We are particularly delighted that the Supreme Court in its wisdom corrected the miscarriage of the justice in Kano and Plateau states.
“It is in the same token that we are also calling on the court to right the wrong that has been carried out in Taraba State by returning the rightful winner, Sani Yahaya, who was validly elected by the people of the state,” the group wrote.
The group called on Justices of the Supreme Court not to overlook this gross infraction on the Constitution and the Electoral Act by returning Yahaya as duly elected governor of Taraba state.
