Appeal Court sets aside ruling of Federal High Court on disqualification of Taraba APC candidate

EMMANUEL AWARI, Jalingo

A Court of Appeal sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State capital, on Thursday vacated a Federal High Court order, which disqualified the Taraba All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate from contesting in Saturday’s governorship polls.

A Federal High Court in Jalingo, had on Wednesday, disqualified Sani Danladi, on account of discrepancy in age declaration in his West African Examination Council (WAEC) Certificate and statutory declaration of age

In a press briefing held Thursday in Jalingo, the Taraba APC Chairman, Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi, disclosed that “the Court of Appeal accepted and restrained all the respondents including INEC”.He added that they were told that the status quo be maintained and the candidate allowed to stand for election on Saturday.

“We are calling on all APC supporters to come out en masse to vote for APC and Sani Danladi”, he added .The presiding judge, Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa, ruled in favour of the APC and Sani Abubakar Danladi on the motion EX-PARTE and order of interim injunction filed by counsel, demanding the stay of execution of the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court Jalingo and to restrain the respondents from executing the judgement and orders of the court, pending the determination of motion on notice filed by the applicants.

“The parties are to maintain the status quo ante bellum and are to stay action and or steps towards the execution of the judgement of the Federal High Court. An interim order of injunction is hereby ordered, restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respondents from taking any steps towards the execution of the said judgement.”

Counsel to the APC Barrister Chia Elijah who briefed journalists after the ruling said that it became pertinent for the judgement of the federal high court to be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal so that the candidate would not be denied the right to participate at the election.

“In view of the proximity of the order of the federal high court to the conduct of the governorship election in the state, and the fact the APC candidate has the right of appeal against that judgement and has filed a notice of appeal, if the order is not stayed and the election is conducted, he would have suffered injury in the sense that his right to contest at the election would have been denied, and the outcome of the appeal would have been rendered nugatory, like medicine after death. As such, the appeal court has ordered that the status quo be maintained pending the outcome of the appeal. The implication is that all the orders of the federal high court are stayed pending the ruling of the appeal.”

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