Politics
Taraba Guber Poll: Tension Mounts As Appeal Court Decides, Today
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal will today deliver its verdict in the appeal brought by the All Progressive Congress (APC) seeking to reverse the judgment of the Taraba State Governorship Election Tribunal, which affirmed the re-election of Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party in the March 9, 2019 governorship poll in the state.
Already, there is mounting tension in the state among supporters of the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, ahead of the judgment.
This is demonstrated by their large turn up in Abuja where the judgment will be delivered.
A three-man panel of the tribunal led by Justice M.O. Adewara had in a unanimous judgment of September 20, 2019, dismissed the petition by the APC and its candidate, Abubakar Danladi on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove their claims that the election was marred by irregularities and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The tribunal further held that Danladi was not qualified to contest the March 9 governorship election.
It would be recalled that before the March 9, 2019 governorship election, the Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, had disqualfied Danladi and equally restrained his political party, the APC from Fielding him as a governorship candidate.
Attempts by Danladi to overturn the order of the Federal High Court that disqualified him were unsuccessful at Court of Appeal and Supreme Court respectively.
Following the above development, the petitioners had on July 10, 2019, withdrew the petition on ground of the disqualification of Abubakar Danladi by the Supreme Court and the petition was accordingly disimissed.
However, on July 13, 2019, the petitioners filed a motion and prayed for an order setting aside the order of dismissal and asked that the petition be relisted.
The tribunal on August 9, 2019 granted the petitioners motion, set aside the order of dismissal of the petition and same was relisted, thereafter, Danladi ceased to participate in the proceedings.
Delivering its judgement after close of hearing, the tribunal held that a Federal High Court in Taraba State had given a judgment on March 6, 2019, in a suit marked FHC/JAL/CS/01/2019, disqualifying Danladi from contesting the election.
It noted that the affirmation of the judgment by the Supreme Court implied that the APC had no valid candidate in the election.
Besides, the tribunal explained further that even if the petition was to be considered on the merits, the petitioners failed to lead sufficient evidence to establish their claims that the governor was not validly elected by a majority of lawful votes.
Dissatisfied with the judgment of the tribunal, the All Progressive Congress, without its candidate, Danladi, approached the Court of Appeal marked CA/A/EPT/934/2019, on October 3, 2019, in petition No: EPT/TR/GOV/01/2019, for an order setting aside the decision of the tribunal.
In the said notice of appeal, the party contended that the tribunal erred in law and occasion a miscarriage of Justice in arriving at its decision dismissing the petition.
Meantime, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeal with punitive cost as same is frivolous and unmeriterious.
The party in its brief of argument filed by its counsel, Chief Solo Akuma (SAN) noted that the appeal by the APC did not include the name of its candidate, Danladi as a person who would be directly affected by the outcome of the appeal.
Citing several case laws, Akuma argued technically, that a party to a suit is not allowed to unilaterally alter a case as constituted from the trial court and that names of parties must be maintained on appeal except as may be ordered by the court.
He submitted that, the unilateral alteration of the parties in the petition, as shown on the face of the notice of appeal, without the name of Danladi, who was the first petitioner at the tribunal renders the said notice of appeal incompetent and liable to be struck out.
Akuma specifically drew the attention of the Court of Appeal to its decision wherein it held thus: “It is now trite law that an appellant or a party seeking to appeal as an interested party cannot rearrange or reconstitute the parties to an action as constituted in the lower court at appellate court. The parties on record at the lower court must be retained at appellate level…the structure of the parties cannot by unilaterally changed or amended by any of the parties to an appeal.”
On the merit of the appeal, the PDP urged the Court of Appeal to hold that the appeal lacks merit and should be accordingly struck out.
The Court of Appeal is expected to give judgment today after the adoption of briefs of arguments by counsel to parties in the appeal.
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has directed his legal team to resume all court proceedings against Mrs. Tracy Ohiri over her repeated allegations of indebtedness and other claims against him.
Mrs Ohiri had publicly accused Senator Umahi of owing her N280 million for campaign materials from his tenure as party chairman in Ebonyi State.
The allegations went viral on social media, where she also accused the Minister of sexual harassment.
Security agencies arrested Mrs Ohiri, and she was subsequently prosecuted. Her lawyer, Barrister Marshall Abubakar, intervened, leading to the deletion of all posts and a public apology, which also gained widespread attention online.
However, days after the apology, Mrs Ohiri resumed her claims against Senator Umahi.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, Senator Umahi said he had informed Barrister Abubakar during the intervention that if Mrs Ohiri could provide verifiable evidence, logs, and communications from the period in question, some of his associates were willing to contribute a sum of One Billion Naira (N1billion) to her, evidence which, he said, she had yet to provide.
“The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Umahi, has been monitoring the ongoing public discourse surrounding the claims and counterclaims by Mrs. Tracy Ohiri.
“Ordinarily, this would have been ignored, but in the interest of truth and public clarity, it is necessary to address the issues directly”, the statement read.
The statement clarified that Barrister Abubakar acted in good faith and without any financial interest, motivated solely by a desire to assist Mrs Ohiri.
At no point did the lawyer discuss or negotiate any payment with the minister, although some well-meaning associates independently offered support”, the statement added.
Senator Umahi reiterated the conditions for resolving the matter: either the claims must be tested in court, or Mrs Ohiri must provide credible evidence, including all relevant communications, to substantiate her allegations.
The minister emphasised that Barr Abubakar conducted himself with integrity throughout the process.
“Following the failure to meet these conditions, particularly the inability to provide verifiable evidence, the Minister has directed his legal team to proceed with all court processes to ensure the truth is fully established,” the statement said.
Senator Umahi said despite years of public provocations and attacks, he chose to remain silent, focusing on national and state services.
He thanked Nigerians who had taken time to assess the facts and noted that “not everyone who presents themselves as a victim truly is one, and in some cases, narratives are deliberately inverted.”
The Minister affirmed that he will not be distracted by Mrs Ohiri’s allegations and remained committed to his mandate at the Ministry of Works.
“The focus remains on results, service, and ensuring that Nigerians continue to benefit from projects that improve connectivity, economic growth, and national development. This administration will continue to pursue its transformation agenda with dedication, transparency, and an unwavering sense of responsibility,” he concluded.
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned proceedings in a suit filed by three aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions.
Justice Stephen Jumbo made the pronouncement during a recent sitting in Port Harcourt.
The suit, which borders on the legitimacy of the party’s leadership structure in the state, was instituted against the factional State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Aaron Chukwuemeka, alongside the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and other respondents.
Also joined in the matter are the PDP as a corporate entity, the Rivers State Government, as well as Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas, including their respective Vice Chairmen and Councillors.
The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, approached the court via an originating summons seeking judicial interpretation on the validity of actions taken by the Chief Chukwuemeka-led state executive committee of the party.
Central to the dispute is whether the said executive committee, whose emergence the claimants contend has been nullified by a subsisting court judgment, retains the legal authority to act on behalf of the party in critical electoral matters.
The plaintiffs specifically urged the court to determine whether the factional leadership could validly submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the purpose of participating in local government elections.
They further questioned the legitimacy of the PDP’s participation in the August 30, 2025 local government elections, contending that any list purportedly submitted by the factional leadership was invalid and of no legal consequence.
In addition to the declaratory reliefs sought, the claimants also prayed the court to grant consequential orders addressing the outcome and conduct of the said elections across the affected local government areas.
At the resumed hearing, counsel representing the PDP and the affected local government councils informed the court that they had only recently been served with the originating processes and accompanying documents.
The defence team, comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), disclosed that service of the court processes was effected on March 13, 2026, leaving them with limited time to adequately prepare their responses.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable them study the processes and address the legal issues raised, particularly as they relate to jurisdictional questions and points of law.
Counsel to the claimants, Glory Chizim-Chinda, did not oppose the application, following which the presiding judge granted the request and adjourned the matter to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions, with a possible ruling expected ahead of the substantive suit.
By: King Onunwor
A former state lawmaker in the old the Rivers State, Professor Alex Eseimokumo, has described Nigerian opposition political parties as mere preposition political parties.
He also advised the country’s electorate against selling their votes during next year’s general elections.
The former legislator, who is also the president of the Institute for Peace, Conflict Resolution and Entrepreneurial Research, said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide on the sidelines of an event organized by the institute in Port Harcourt.
He said opposition political parties in Nigeria have been reduced to preposition political parties as most of them are not only dinning with the government but advising government on what to do to win election.
“The problem in Nigeria is we are not practicing politics the way it is supposed to be.The opposition are more in preposition.
“You see, opposition is supposed to find out things that are wrong in government but in our present day politics, you see opposition even dinning with the other group. So, there is basically nothing like opposition in Nigeria “, he said.
He lamented a situation where some individuals within the opposition are allegedly working hard to prevent their parties from fielding presidential candidates in the forthcoming election, adding that such individuals were only there to protect their personal interest.
Prof. Eseimokumo said as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he could not wish his party to fail in the election, even though nothing is impossible in Nigeria.
He noted that though the government in power has been trying it’s best, there was more to be done.
In his words, “I’m an APC member, so I don’t have the right to criticize my party but a word of advice: we still need to do more, more people oriented leadership where everybody will feel carried along.
“For now, I’m campaigning for APC to be re elected and if I stand here to say APC is not doing well, I’m not being fair to myself. But I think, with God all things are possible, there can be changes”.
On his assessment of the performances of governors of the Niger Delta states, Prof Eseimokumo said the governors were doing well within the limit of their resources.
” I don’t know what is given to them as allocation, but if what we are seeing in terms of window dressing is not window shopping, then they are doing well”, he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Eseimokumo has advised Nigerian electorates against selling their votes during the forthcoming elections.
He said credible election could only be achieved when the electorates refuse financial inducement during the elections.
According to him, though Nigerian voters had been difficult to persuade, the time had come for them to stop selling their votes.
Prof. Eseimokumo said the forthcoming elections will serve as a litmus test for the Nigerian electorate to demonstrate their desire for changes in the country, stressing that free and fair elections will continue to be a mirage in the country until the was a change in the attitude of the electorate.
“If you want your vote to count, don’t take money from anybody; if you want your votes to count, don’t collect money for your vote. The moment you collect money for your vote, you have sold your conscience”, he warned.
He said his institute will continue to work for peace, not just in the Niger Delta region but across Nigeria.
By: John Bibor
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