The Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo has dismissed two major cases seeking to disqualify Colonel Agbu Kefas (rtd) as the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State.
Ruling on the separate cases filed by Professor Jerome Nyame and Mr Buba Mafindi respectively, Justice Simeon Amobeda posited that the plaintiffs failed to prove their cases beyond reasonable doubts.
He insisted that both complainants failed to exhaust the internal mechanism for conflict resolution of their party before approaching the court.
Reacting to the decision of the court, counsel to Nyame, Pius Demba, said his client would proceed to the Court of Appeal, saying he was not satisfied with the ruling.
He stated that the case against the PDP candidate was very strong and expressed optimism that the appellate court would upturn the judgement in favour of Nyame.
On the other hand, counsel Agbu, Mr Musa Tende, hailed the judgement which he described as a victory for democracy.
He said they would be ready to defend their case up to the Supreme Court, saying even the apex court would uphold the decision of the high court.
Tende, however, called on the plaintiffs and other aggrieved members of the party to “unite for the battle ahead instead of continuing to create unnecessary distractions”.
For the PDP publicity secretary in Taraba, Mr Andetarang Iramae, as well as a chieftain of the party, Istifanus Ghana, the court’s decision is a coast-clearing ruling by Justice Amobeda that has laid to rest doubts and insinuations about the candidacy of Colonel Agbu.
While encouraging those who lost out to join forces with the candidate of the party, the duo described the litigation as unfortunate.
They stressed that the aggrieved members did not allow the party the opportunity to resolve the issues but headed to the court instead.
According to Iramae and Ghana, the party has put in place a mechanism to resolve all issues and put its house in order ahead of the 2023 general elections.
