Appeal court dismisses NNPP’s petition, affirms Kefas Agbu as Taraba governor

The court of appeal in Abuja has affirmed Kefas Agbu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the duly elected governor of Taraba state.  

Delivering judgment on Tuesday, the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by Muhammad Yahaya and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for being defective.

Peter Affen, who delivered the lead judgment,  faulted the appellants for transmitting an incomplete record of appeal which cannot be heard.

Agbu had polled 257,926 votes to defeat Yahaya who got 202,277 votes in the election.

Yahaya and his party challenged the result and asked the tribunal to nullify Agbu’s victory on the grounds that the election was marred by non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

They also alleged that Agbu did not get the majority of lawful votes cast.

However, the tribunal led by G.A Sunmonu held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations.

The NNPP and its candidate went further to appeal the tribunal’s judgment.

However, the appellate court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.