Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Taraba state, had a charge of certificate forgery against him dismissed by the Federal High Court in Jalingo.
Recall that The Quest Times had previously reported that an Appeal Court judgement in November had affirmed Senator Bwacha as the authentic APC candidate.
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Justice Bala Usman also dismissed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s suit against Bwacha due to “lack of sufficient evidence” and several false claims.
Justice Usman issued the ruling late Saturday night in the lawsuit brought by Chief David Sabo Kente, an APC chieftain in Taraba and a candidate in the party’s most recent governorship primary in the state. The judge claimed that the plaintiff had failed to establish his allegation of criminal forgery against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt as required by law.
The judge ruled that the respondent’s certificate-issuing institution were not called by the plaintiff to testify as witnesses in the suit.
Addressing journalists after the ruling, Counsel to the plaintiff, Pius Damba said his team would study the judgement and advise his client on the necessary step to take.
Basking in the euphoria of the judgment, Counsel to the APC, Barrister Boniface Iorkumbur, described the ruling as a landmark judgment. He said the plaintiff could not prove his allegations beyond any reasonable doubt due to his inability to present substantial evidence to prove the allegation of forgery against Bwacha.
For Danjuma Tukura, Counsel to Emmanuel Bwacha, he commended the judge for taking his time and patience to deliver such a unique judgement at night.
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Nevertheless, the Plaintiff, Chief David Kente told journalists Saturday night that he was not satisfied with the judgement and would approach the Court of Appeal.
Kente had earlier filed a case against Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, challenging his emergence as the governorship candidate of the party at the last primary election and the ruling at the Supreme Court is billed for this week.
