JUST IN: S/Court confirms Kefas Agbu as PDP gubernatorial candidate in Taraba

The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed Colonel Kefas Agbu (Rtd) as the gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba for the state’s March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election.

Judge Emmanuel Agim’s apex court ruling upheld the decision of the Court of Appeals in Yola, Adamawa State, which dismissed two different lawsuits challenging Kefas Agbu’s eligibility to win the primary election for the governorship of the PDP in Taraba State.

The dual appeals rejected by the apex court were those of two contenders for the governorship ticket, Hilkiah Buba-Joda and Jerome Nyameh.

The court ruled in the judgment that the appellants violated section 84 and section 87(9) of the Electoral Act by not using the primary election dispute mechanism as contained in the party’s guidelines.

In light of this, both appeals were deemed premature and unfounded, as they were filed without exploring internal party options for redress before going to court.

The Supreme Court also stated that the applicants’ failure to include other aspirants participating in the primaries in the early stages of the trial deprived them of the right to a fair trial.

It should be recalled that in the primary elections for the governorship of the PDP, Kefas Agbu won the contest with 443 of the 517 votes cast.