Appeal Court affirms Kefas Agbu as Taraba gov

• Court said appellants were not consistent in their petition against the March 28 governorship election

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday evening affirmed the election of Kefas Agbu as the governor of Taraba State.

In a unanimous judgement of the three-member panel of justices of the court delivered by Justice Peter Affen, the appellate court held that the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its governorship candidate, Prof. Yahaya Sani, who were the appellants, were not consistent in their petition against the March 28 governorship election.

Justice Affen held that while NNPP and Sani prayed for the nullification of the election on grounds of non-compliance with the electoral act, they also asked the court to pronounce them as winners of the same election on grounds of scoring a majority of lawful votes.

The court held that it is against the law for any litigant, as in the case of NNPP and its governorship candidate, to blow hot and cold at the same time.

He further held that, having prayed that the election be nullified on account of non-adherence to the electoral act, the alternative prayer that they be declared the winner of the same election has no legs to stand upon.

Besides, the Court of Appeal held that the record of proceedings transmitted to the court by the appellants was not complete, thereby rendering their appeal incompetent.

Justice Affen consequently dismissed the appeal for lacking merit and upheld the judgement of a tribunal that had earlier dismissed the petition.

A three-man panel of justices led by Justice Ayo Sunmonu of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had, on September 30, dismissed the petition filed by NNPP and its governorship candidate for lacking merit.