Drama, anxiety as court disqualifies Taraba APC governorship candidate

A Federal High Court in Jalingo, on Wednesday, disqualified the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Alh Sani, Abubakar Danladi, from contesting in the governorship election for Taraba State slated for Saturday.

Justice Stephen Pam in his ruling on the case of age falsification brought against Danladi by Usman Udi and three others, said that Danladi had filed a different date of birth to the third defendant the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the one on his WAEC certificate and so declared the information he supplied to the INEC as false.

“The information given by the first defendant Abubakar, Sani Danladi, as to his age in the affidavit in support of his personal particulars in the INEC Form CF001 submitted to INEC is hereby declared false. Danladi is hereby disqualified from contesting the election as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC in the governorship election for Taraba State slated for 9th March 2019 or any subsequent date to be slated on the grounds that the information contained in the Form CF001 as submitted to INEC as to his age is false” Pam ruled.

In his reaction, the spokesperson of the APC in the state Mr Aaron Artimas, described the judgement as mischievous and comical since there was a subsisting judgement on the matter by the Court of Appeal which is a higher court to the Federal High Court.

Artimas said: “Our attention has been drawn to a mischievous and comical judgment by the Federal High Court, Jalingo, on a case filed by some unknown persons parading as concerned citizens, who raised the issue of a purported improper declaration of age by Sani Danladi. The so-called concern citizens claimed that there were discrepancies in the declaration of age as contained in Sani Danladi’s SSCE and his statutory declaration of age in the year 2000.

“However, we wish our teeming supporters to note that the issue had been taken to court in 2007 and was subsequently dismissed by the appeal court.

“It should also be noted that all judgments passed by the appeal court supersede those of the lower courts in the whole country. “There are also legal processes involved in the substitution of candidates by INEC and therefore a court judgment does not automatically translate to disqualification to contest an election.

“By this explanation, we are calling on all law-abiding citizens and APC members throughout the state to remain calm and discountenance or disregard any issue or rumour regarding the eligibility of Sani to contest Saturday’s guber election.

He said that “legal steps have already commenced to set aside this mischievous judgment which we view as another desperate attempt by agents of the PDP and the state government to escape defeat on Saturday.

“All APC members are hereby called upon to continue with their campaigns and preparation towards the election. All our agents are also hereby directed to ensure that they dutifully accompany all sensitive materials and to ensure their distributions to all designated voting areas.”

Meanwhile, tension is high especially in Jalingo metropolis, following the disqualification of Alh Danladi by the Federal High Court, Jalingo.

As at the time of filing this report, the area is calm as security personnel have deployed to strategic spots across the city to maintain law and order.