BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Agbu as Taraba PDP governorship candidate 

By Chigozie Ikpo, Abuja 

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has affirmed Kefas Agbu as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 11 gubernatorial election, in Taraba state.

The apex court upheld the decision of the Appellate Court in Yola, Adamawa state, which dismissed two different suits challenging the eligibility of Agbu to contest the governorship primary election of the PDP, in Taraba state.

The twin appeals dismissed by the apex court were those by two fellow contenders for the ticket, Hilkiah Buba-Joda and Jerome Nyameh.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the Supreme Court stated that the appellants acted in breach of Sections 84 and 87(9) of the Electoral Act by failing to make use of the primary election dispute mechanism as contained in the party’s guidelines. 

In light of the breach, the court deemed both appeals premature and lacking in merit, as they were instituted without exploring the internal party options to seek redress before heading to court. 

The apex court also stated that the failure of the appellants to include other aspirants who took part in the primary at the early stages of the trial robbed them of the right to a fair hearing.

Recall that at the governorship primary election of the PDP, Agbu won the contest with 443 votes out of the 517 votes cast.

Agbu is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Nigerian army and the former PDP state chairman of Taraba State.