>
Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Court of Appeal sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, has set aside the Federal High Court judgements, which nullified the primary elections that produced Emmanuel Bwacha and Aishatu Binani as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidates for Taraba and Adamawa States, respectively
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Habeeb Abiru, who lead two other judges– Justices Peter Affen and Lawal Abubakar, on Thursday, ordered that their names should be accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as APC governorship candidates for both states.
Recall that in September, Justice Simon Amobeda, of the Federal High Court in Jalingo, Taraba State, nullified the governorship primary that produced Bwacha after a petition by one of the contestants in the APC primary, David Kente.
Also, a Federal High Court in Yola, had on October 14, nullified the governorship primary that produced Binani as the party’s governorship candidate for Adamawa State.
The court also declared that there will be no governorship candidate for the APC in the state for the 2023 general elections.
Binani, the senator representing Adamawa Central, defeated Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Jibrilla Bindow, former governor of the state, to win the party’s primary on May 26.
But the appellate court has now set aside both judgements.