The governorship primary poll that selected Emmanuel Bwacha as the party’s nominee for the 2023 election has been declared invalid by the Federal High Court, which has its headquarters in Taraba State’s capital city of Jalingo.
Justice Simon Amobeda, the presiding judge, delivered the judgment on Tuesday.
A fresh governorship primary for the state must be held within 14 days, according to Justice Amobeda’s order in a complaint brought by one of the candidates for governor, Chief David Sabo Kente.
He also ordered Bwacha to stop parading himself as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and INEC to stop recognizing Bwacha as a candidate.
Justice Amobeda pointed out that all the primary results had the same handwriting.
He also stated that the returning officer declared that no primary was held in the state at the police headquarters due to security threats.
The court described as inappropriate, the alleged false declaration of results at the Danbaba Suntai Airport Jalingo before jetting out of the state via a private jet by the returning officer.
In their reaction, counsels for Mr. Bwacha and APC said they will study the judgment before either proceeding to the Appeal Court or submitting to a fresh primary.