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Tag: Emmanuel Bwacha

  • BREAKING: Bwacha wins Taraba fresh APC governorship primary

    BREAKING: Bwacha wins Taraba fresh APC governorship primary

    Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha has been declared winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Taraba governorship primaries rerun.

    Retired Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, Chairman of the electoral committee announced the result the results in Jalingo on Friday.

    Buratai said that Bwacha scored 778 votes to emerge winner, while Sen. Yusuf  Yusuf came second with five votes.

    He said that 840 delegates were expected at the election, out of which 796 were accredited.

    Speaking, Bwacha described the result as a confirmation that people of the state were truly yearning for good governance in the state.

    The Supreme Court had nullified the state APC governorship primaries and ordered for a rerun.

  • BREAKING: Supreme Court sacks Bwacha as Taraba APC guber candidate

    BREAKING: Supreme Court sacks Bwacha as Taraba APC guber candidate

    The Supreme Court has nullified the nomination of Emmanuel Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports a five-member panel led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun nullified the nomination of Bwacha as Taraba APC guber candidate for the 2023 elections in a judgment delivered on Wednesday.

    Delivering the judgment, the panel affirmed the verdict of a Federal High Court, which held that the APC did not conduct any valid governorship primary in Taraba.

    Recall that the Federal High Court, Abuja in November nullified the APC primary election that produced Bwacha as its governorship candidate for the 2023 general election.

    Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, who delivered the judgment declared that based on submissions made before him by the parties, the purported primary election conducted by APC on  May 26 was a nullity.

    TNG reports the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal High Court position that the APC did not conduct governorship primaries in Taraba and, therefore, cannot field a candidate.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Court dismisses forgery case against Taraba APC guber candidate

    Court dismisses forgery case against Taraba APC guber candidate

    A Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo on Saturday night dismissed an alleged certificate forgery case brought by chief David Kente, against the governorship candidate of the APC, Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha, for lack of evidence.

    Justice Bala  Usman, in his ruling, said the plaintiff  and his counsel failed to provide evidence to back his allegation against the APC governorship candidate as required by both INEC and the constitution.

    Usman further held that having carefully listened to all parties involved in the matter, the plaintiff lacked proof of evidence to support his case and consequently struck it out.

    Reacting to the judgment, Mr Dangana Tukura, Counsel to  Sen. Bwacha, described the judgment as a landmark event.

    Similarly, Mr Boniface Iorkumbur counsel to the APC, also hailed the position of the court as a true demonstration of fair justice in the eye of the law.

    Iorkumbur commended the judge for his courage and patience in listening to all parties as well as delivering a sound judgment.

    He further said that the inability of the plaintiff to call witnesses, especially those institutions where the 3rd respondent had passed through shows that they didn’t have a case against the respondent.

    Meanwhile, Mr. John Yuwa, counsel to chief Kente, expressed that he and his team of lawyers would find time to study the judgment and advised their client on the next line of action as the judgment was in brief.

    Recall that Chief Kente had approached the Federal High Court Jalingo, through his counsel, John Yuwa, alleging that the governorship candidate in Taraba, forged some of the documents submitted to INEC, that qualified him to contest the Primary election of the party.

    The plaintiff accused the 3rd respondent of criminal presentation of false information to the electorial empire and the APC.

    APC, INEC, and Bwacha were first, second and third respondents in the suit.

  • TARABA: Appeal Court shakes off Bwacha, Binani’s nullification as APC guber candidates

    TARABA: Appeal Court shakes off Bwacha, Binani’s nullification as APC guber candidates

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Yola has dismissed the High Court ruling nullifying Emmanuel Bwacha and Aishatu Binani elections as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidates for Taraba and Adamawa states respectively.

    The court on Thursday ordered that their names should be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as APC governorship candidates for both states.

    In September, Justice Simon Amobeda of a Federal High Court in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, sacked Bwacha after a petition by an ex-aspirant, David Kente.

    The judge had argued that it is not possible for all the primary results to have the same handwriting while the returning officer declared that no primary was held in the state at the police headquarters due to security threats.

    The former Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate later appealed the judgment, and alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State is the major cause of the APC problems within the state.

    TARABA: Appeal Court shakes off Bwacha, Binani’s nullification as APC guber candidates

    Similarly, last month, a Federal High Court sitting in Yola nullified APC primary that produced Binani as the party’s governorship candidate for Adamawa.

    Justice Abdulaziz Anka declared that the judgment was based on substantial evidence of non-compliance with the party guidelines and that of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, who came second during the exercise, had dragged Binani and INEC before the high court, alleging vote buying and illegal delegates list at the primary conducted on May 27, 2022.

  • Court sacks Bwacha as Taraba APC governorship candidate

    Court sacks Bwacha as Taraba APC governorship candidate

    The Federal High Court, Abuja has nullified the All Progressives Congress, (APC) primary election that produced Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha as its governorship candidate for the 2023 general election.

    Justice Obiora Egwuatu who delivered the judgment declared that based on submissions made before him by the parties, the purported primary election conducted by APC on  May 26 was nullity.

    The judge also ordered that a fresh primary election should be conducted with 14 days.

    The court  had on Oct 6, fixed Nov. 15 for judgment in a suit filed by Sen. Yusuf Yusuf seeking the nullification of the Taraba APC governorship primary held on May 26.

    Yusuf, a senator representing Taraba Central, who was also a governorship aspirant in the contested exercise dragged Bwacha, the purported winner, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court challenging the declaration of Bwacha as the winner.

    Counsel to the plaintiff, Mr Ibrahim Bawa, (SAN), told the court that the case of his client was that APC held no primary election in Taraba.

    According to him, the APC announced that it will conduct direct primaries in only three states and Taraba was not part of the three.

    “The first defendant confirmed that direct primaries will be conducted in Taraba only after the primaries were conducted.”

    He added that even though the appeal panel set up to hear complaints said there was no primaries held, the defendants insisted that the report was reviewed.

    “The purported review was not signed by members of the committee, this court is empowered to compare the signatures on documents before it.”

    Bawa also submitted that the Federal High Court in Taraba had in a recent ruling on a similar matter, nullified the election and ordered a fresh election.

    For his part, counsel to the APC, Mr Festus Idepefo, SAN, told the court that he had provided evidence to counter the submission of the plaintiff that no primary election held.

    “The issues formulated by the plaintiff is that no election was conducted at all. In response to this allegation, we have exhibited the results of the elections in all the 168 wards in Taraba showing the number of registered voters.

    “We have also exhibited the INEC report issued in each local government area of Taraba. In a situation like this, we will expect the plaintiff to exhibit voters who were disenfranchised but no such exhibit is before the court.”

    Responding to the issue of a similar judgment by the court in Taraba, Idebefo said that the case in Taraba was different from the current case.

    “The plaintiff in the Taraba case said that the notice given to him for the election was too short so he did not have time to prepare for it. The plaintiff in this case is alleging that there was no election.”

    The senior lawyer also argued that the allegation of no signature on the committee’s report amounted to forgery and falsification which was a serious allegation to which the plaintiff must provide proof.

    He said that justice could not be obtained by legal ambush and urged the court to dismiss the case for lacking in merit.

    Counsel to Bwacha, Mr E.A Ibrahim in his submission, told the court that he filed 459 exhibits on behalf of his client.

    “The exhibits comprise result sheets for the various wards and local government areas.”

    He prayed the court to dismiss the suit.

    Mr N.T Abubakar, counsel to INEC told the court that his client would abide by the decision taken by the court.

  • Court fires Taraba lawmaker for cross carpeting from PDP to APC

    Court fires Taraba lawmaker for cross carpeting from PDP to APC

    Following cross carpeting from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, a Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, has ordered Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, representing Taraba South, to immediately vacate his seat as a Senator.

    Delivering the judgement in a suit marked FHC/JAL/CS/9/2022 brought before the court by the Peoples Democratic Party, Justice Simon Amobeda ordered Bwacha to immediately vacate his seat as a Senator.

    The judgement delivered, on Thursday, ruled that the first defendant (Emmanuel Bwacha) by defecting from the plaintiff (PDP) to the second defendant (APC) during the life of the senate to which he was elected in the 2019 general election, lost his seat of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Citing section 68(1) (g) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, the judge held that the plaintiff successfully established his case and is therefore entitled to the grant of the reliefs sought.

    Part of the judgement read, “the 4th defendant (The Senate President) shall immediately declare as vacant the seat of the 1st defendant in the Senate of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “The 3rd Defendant (Independent National Electoral Commission) shall immediately conduct a bye-election among the candidates that contested the 2019 general elections for Taraba South Senatorial District of Taraba State.

    “Leave is hereby given to the plaintiff to present another candidate to fill the vacancy created by the 1st defendant’s defection to the 2nd defendant not later than 90 days from the date of this judgement,” the judgement read.

    This is even as the court restrained Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, his agents or privies from accessing allowances due to the occupant of the seat until a winner emerged from the election to be conducted.

    Court fires Taraba lawmaker for cross carpeting from PDP to APC
    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha representing Taraba South

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) recalls that Bwacha was welcomed to the APC by President Muhammadu Buhari, along with APC Caretaker Chairman and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.

    The 59-year-old senator (Bwacha) is a three-term senator representing Taraba South.

    He was the commissioner for Agriculture in his home state of Taraba between 1999 – 2003. He represented his Donga Constituency inn the House of Representatives from 2003-2007.

    In 2011, he was first re-elected into the Senate, to represent Taraba South.

  • PDP names new Senate Deputy Minority Leader as Bwacha officially joins APC

    PDP names new Senate Deputy Minority Leader as Bwacha officially joins APC

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has nominated Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau as new Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Senator Lau will replace Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    This is contained in a letter from the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorcha Ayu read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.

    The letter was read at the start of plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

    The letter reads in part, “following the defection of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha to the ruling APC, the PDP Senate caucus has nominated as his replacement, Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau.

    “Senator Lau is from Taraba State, the North East geo-political zone of the country, where the position has been zoned.

    “The PDP Senate caucus has duly informed the National Headquarters of the party, in view of which we so communicate to you.

    “We believe that Senator Lau will be an asset to the leadership of the Senate.

    “Thank you and accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

    Meanwhile, Bwacha (Taraba South) formally defected from the PDP to the ruling APC during Tuesday’s plenary.

    Bwacha’s defection brings the number of APC Senators to 70, PDP 38 Senators and Young Progressives Party (YPP) 1.

    His decision to leave the opposition party was conveyed sequel to a point of order raised by the lawmaker during plenary.

    Relying on Order 42 of the Senate Rules (Personal Explanation), Senator Bwacha gave reasons for his defection.

    He said, “In view of my desire for equal competition, and about my desire to enjoy the full operations of my fundamental human rights, Mr. President, I want to announce this day, that it is appointed to me, henceforth, to enjoy free air.

    “As King Solomon said, there’s a time for everything; now is a time for me to leave the People’s Democratic Party.

    “Mr. President, I say I have opportunity to breathe freely because of a deliberate isolation and huge division and factionalisation in the party in my state.

    “Mr. President, I had to leave because I seek to breathe better. This day, I announce henceforth my exit from the People’s Democratic Party, and to join the governing party because of the visible presence of the party in my Senatorial District.

    “I say this without fear of contradiction that my constituents are happy about this movement because of what they have seen on ground in Taraba South Senatorial District.

    “So, we make bold to pay the PDP back by ensuring that better days are ahead for the party in Taraba State.”

    Immediately after his announcement to defect from the opposition party, Senator George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East), came with a counter point of order to oppose Bwacha’s defection citing the provisions of Section 68 (g)(h) and subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    The lawmaker, against the backdrop of the provisions cited, requested the Senate President to declare Bwacha’s seat vacant.

    Sekibo was however ruled out of order by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

    Lawan observed that Sekibo’s demand was null as Senator Bwacha had explained that the PDP in Taraba was factionalised.

    He also drew Sekibo’s attention to a letter by the National Chairman of the PDP nominating a new deputy leader to replace Bwacha.

    According to Lawan, the decision by the PDP caucus in the Senate to intimate the National Body of the opposition party of a new nomination translates to an acceptance of Bwacha’s resignation from the PDP.

    The Senate President, on the strength of the reasons advanced, ruled Sekibo out of order.

  • I left PDP to find peace – Senator Bwacha

    I left PDP to find peace – Senator Bwacha

    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, representing Taraba South Senatorial District in the National Assembly (NASS) has said he left the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in order to find peace.

    Senator Bwacha, who was Deputy Senate Minority Leader, stated this after dumping the PDP to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    According to him, the PDP as a national party did not offend him but that his grouse was with the leadership of the party in his home State of Taraba.

    He lamented, what he described as “deliberate isolation from the governor” and noted that the dispute between himself and the governor was not from his part.

    Speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Bwacha said the Taraba State Governor Arch. Darius Dickson Ishaku barred public officials from attending his constituency projects and his other political activities.

    “I actually cannot point out exactly what is his (Ishaku’s) problem with me. We (Ishaku and I) worked together in 2015 but in 2019, suddenly this hate came.

    “I tried to speak to him about issues but it had always earned me hate. I tried to see him at a point but he shut the door at me.

    “I have not made public declaration about becoming a governor but there have been innuendos, and insinuations. People have also been putting pressure on me to run for governor.

    “And I overheard someone say that the only condition for me to sit with him (Ishaku) is if I would drop my gubernatorial ambition.

    “It is about an environment where you are not being persecuted, where you are given a latitude to operate, a free playing ground.

    “My people are not in support of such persecution, they see me going through persecution that is unnecessary.

    “If you are staying in an environment where you will not survive, if you remain there, you are doing it at your own peril and I would not be part of such danger, I won’t endanger my political future in an environment where I am not guaranteed a clear future,” Bwacha said.

    The Taraba Senator added that past and present leadership of the PDP did not help reconciliatory efforts.

  • BREAKING: Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Bwacha dumps PDP

    BREAKING: Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Bwacha dumps PDP

    Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Senator Bwacha joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and was welcomed into the party by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Bwacha was welcomed into the APC by President Buhari at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.

    He was led to the State House by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, who is the Chairman of the APC Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

    Senator Bwacha represents Taraba South Senatorial District of Taraba State in the Senate.