Taraba: Aspirant Sues APC, Bwacha Over Contempt of Court

One of the governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress in Taraba State, David Sabo-Kente, has filed a suit against the APC and Senator Emmanuel Bwacha for violating the Supreme Court judgement which nullified the candidacy of Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the party in the state and delisted the APC from fielding a candidate for the governorship elections.

The Supreme Court nullified the nomination of Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the APC in the state earlier in February.

In its judgement delivered, a five-member panel of the court led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun upheld the finding of the Federal High Court in Jalingo, the state capital, that the APC did not conduct any valid governorship primary poll in the state.

The court gave the judgement in the case which began with a suit lodged by David Kente, one of the governorship aspirants with whom Bwacha had jostled for the APC’s governorship ticket.

In a statement made available to press on Friday in Abuja, Sabo-Kente noted that though the apex court granted all the reliefs he sought, it however, did not order the re-run of the election, and so the recent primary held in Jalingo, was a clear violation of the court’s orders.

The aspirant also dismissed insinuations that his aim was to ensure that APC did not have a gubernatorial candidate in Taraba State.

He said, “That is a very wrong notion, I am very passionate about this party as I have been here for a very long time. But it seems the people want us to have a candidate without going through due process.

“You are aware of how the purported primaries were held. How can you drag seven trucks of military men and Buratai, the former Chief of Army Staff, to hold primaries which none of the candidates attended. Five of us are in the race with him, and by him, I mean former Sen. Bwacha. So how can you hold an election where five of the six candidates did not participate?’’

“Speaking on the order by the Supreme Court, Sabo-Kente noted that Bwacha was delisted from participating in the primaries.

“Relief number eight was granted. it explicitly delisted Emmanuel Bwacha from participating in the primaries and it also delisted our party from participating in the 2023 elections. So how will an order from the highest court in the land be flouted by people?’’

“Speaking further, the aspirant said, “We have gone back to court to file a contempt suit against all the parties involved in the illegal primaries”.