Taraba Guber Poll: Aisha Al-Hassan Goes to Supreme Court

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State, Senator Aisha Al-Hassan, has announced her intention to seek redress at the Supreme Court after the court of Appeal nullified the ruling of the state’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which declared her the winner of the poll. It would be recalled, that the Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered by Justice Abdul Aboki, held that the decision of the tribunal was a nullity. The tribunal had thrown out the victory of incumbent Governor Darius Ishaku over claims that the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which produced him was faulty and therefore ruled that he was not sponsored by the PDP or any political party as demanded by law. The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal therefore made a declaration, that Senator Al Hassan, who is the sitting minister of Women Affairs, is the winner of the election. However, not satisfied, the Governor initiated an appeal against the judgment of the tribunal. Specifically, the Court of Appeal held that the tribunal erred when it ruled that Ishaku was not validly nominated by his party and not qualified ab-initio to contest the April 11 governorship election. The appellate court insisted that the tribunal lacked the power to annul the victory of the appellant on the ground of improper conduct of primaries by his party. The judge added that since the PDP has admitted to have sponsored the appellant in its deposition, the argument of the APC and its candidate of non-qualification of the PDP candidate are baseless. The Appeal Court also held that it is only INEC and any aggrieved contestant in the primaries of PDP who had the locus standi to challenge the conduct of the primaries.