University don seeks disqualification of Taraba PDP guber candidate

A lecturer with the Taraba State University, Prof. Jerome Nyameh, has approached the federal high court sitting in Jalingo, to demand immediate disqualification of Kefas Agbu from hoisting the governorship banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the state, come the 2023 poll.

Agbu, it would be recalled, was declared winner of the PDP governorship primary, the action, which did not go down well with the university don who was also an aspirant.

The aggrieved aspirant, who has dragged the party, Agbu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the federal high court in Jalingo, was of the view that the party’s governorship candidate did not purchase the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms before the primary election.

More to that, the candidate, according to him, presided as the party’s chairman over the screening of aspirants seeking elective positions in the forthcoming elections.

Arguing before the presiding judge, Simeone Akpa Amobeda, yesterday, through his counsel, Pius Damba Pius, Nyameh informed the court that he was ready with his witnesses to prove his case.

Lawyer to the defendants, Musa Tende, however, informed the court that they have a preliminary objection, which was a practice direction made on June 28, 2022, that Pius D. Pius was supposed to comply with.

In reply, Nyameh’s counsel argued that the suit was filed on June 3, 2022, about three weeks before the said practice direction was made two days ago.

The practice direction, as further stated by him, cannot apply to a case that has been filed before it was made.

After listening to both sides, the court directed that since the defendants’ objection was not ripe for hearing having just been filed Thursday, the case should be adjourned to July 14, 2022, for hearing.

Answering questions from media practitioners, Pius said all he wanted was for the court to declare his client as the validly nominated candidate of the PDP for the 2023 governorship election. (The Guardian)