Bisola David
The governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Taraba State, Prof Sani Muhammad Yahaya, has said that the party will contest the election outcome in court
Yahaya made this known during a press conference on Tuesday in Jalingo while reacting to the governorship election outcome.
Premium Politics reported that the Peoples Democratic Candidate, Agbu Kefas was declared winner on Monday by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The state’s returning officer, Prof. M.A. Abdulazeez, said Mr Kefas polled 302,614 votes to defeat NNPP’s Yahaya, who scored 202,277 votes.
Although the Taraba All Progressives Congress candidate, Emmanuel Bwacha, who emerged second runner-up by polling 142,502 votes has since congratulated Kefas, Yahaya cried foul in his presser on Tuesday.
He claimed, “The NNPP genuinely won the election, but the party had been robbed of the victory.”
He added that although he had won the election, the results had been rigged.
The NNPP candidate announced that he would contest the INEC-announced results in court, noting that the legal process to restore his victory had already begun.
He encouraged his supporters to maintain their composure and refrain from taking the law into their hands
“Victory is ours, we won the election, everyone in Taraba state knows that I won the election, and we are going to take legal action to restore our triumph,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Bwacha’s campaign Director for Media and Publicity, Mr. Aaron Artimas, hailed the governor-elect for winning the election.
He claimed that Senator Bwacha’s decision to congratulate Kefas was made to give peace a chance, particularly because the state requires peace to achieve the desired development.
As of the time of this report, Jalingo town(Taraba’s capital) is currently at peace following INEC’s declaration that PDP candidate.
Business activities have also resumed after Monday’s skirmish between soldiers and the police in Jalingo.
Reports reveal that businesses that closed on Monday reopened today(Tuesday) while there has also been a reduction in the number of security personnel stationed in key locations throughout the town.