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Tribunal declares Alhassan 1st female gov, sacks Taraba’s Ishaku (Updated)

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In from Timothy Enietan-Matthews . . .

The Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, Saturday, nullified the election of Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Minister Designate,  Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan winner of the election in that state.

‎The tribunal chairman, Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar declared Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the bona fide winner of the April 11 election in the state, effectively making her the first ever elected female governor in the country.

‎Alhassan is one of the 36 recently confirmed as ministers by the Senate.

The three-member tribunal held that Ishaku was not validly nominated as candidate of the PDP and therefore was not qualified, ab-initio, to contest the governorship election.

Specifically, the tribunal held that the governorship primaries purportedly conducted by the PDP in the state was done in violation of section 78 (b) (1)(2) of the Electoral Act which guides parties nomination to the position of governorship candidate.

It held that contrary to the provision of the section, PDP conducted the purported primaries at its national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja with no clear delegation from the local government areas in the state.

Read also: It’s D-day for Aisha Alhassan, Okorocha

The tribunal sustained the testimonies of INEC head of election monitoring that the commission was not aware of any primaries conducted by the party in line with the provision of the electoral act which produced Ishaku as the party’s flagbearer.

The defence by the PDP that the primaries were shifted to Abuja because of security challenges in the state was rejected by the tribunal.

It sustained the evidence of the INEC official that there was no primaries election in the state and the emergence of Ishaku through the purported election in Abuja was after the statutory stipulated time for party primaries had elapsed.

It held that since Ishaku was not duly sponsored by the PDP, the party had no candidate in the governorship election in the eyes of the law.

The tribunal therefore voided the votes of the PDP and Ishaku in the election saying “it is a waste’’ and declared the APC and its candidate, which came second, as the valid winner of the April 11 election.

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