From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Following the judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday that nullified the gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress APC in Taraba State that produced Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the party for the March general elections, stakeholders across boards have expressed different reactions.
Chief David Sabo Kente, the plaintiff in the case described the judgement as a “very sound and serious lesson to politicians who feel the society should continue with its draconian ways”.
Mr Shuaibu Ataka, Secretary of the David Kente Governorship Campaign Organisation who briefed newsmen in Jalingo on behalf of Chief Kente expressed optimism that he would win the ticket of the party in the new primaries, insisting that he was ready to go into the primaries.
Kente expressed confidence that the development would not, in any way, affect the fortunes of the party in the state in the forthcoming general elections.
Mr Aaron Artimas, publicity secretary of the APC and spokesperson for Emmanuel Bwacha campaign organisation in his reaction to the judgement said that as a law-abiding organisation and citizens, they would obey the position of the Supreme Court as a party and as a campaign organisation.
Artimas insists that the party was ready to organise dress primaries based on directives of the national Secretariat within the time frame in compliance with the ruling of the Supreme Court.
He said that it was unfortunate how people have quickly taken to social media to peddle all kinds of fake information and baseless analysis, shamelessly showcasing a disturbing depth of ignorance and wondering how people could gullibly swallow the misinformation.
“I can assure you that we are aware of the principle of Supremacy of the law and we will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. As a campaign organisation, we have a solid structure on the ground already and we are ready to go in for the primaries any day that the party sets.
“Senator Bwacha has maintained that he would win overwhelmingly even if the primaries was conducted a million times but we had to exhaust the legal options available to us. As it stands, it is only a mere formality for us because we know who the people are with.
“Let me use this opportunity to call on all our teeming supporters to remain steadfast and unfaced as we are fully on track. In the coming hours, we would hopefully get directives from the national Secretariat of our party and we would communicate our itinerary to the people preparatory for the primaries.
“Let me also call on people to scrutinise the information they are fed on social media by persons who have neither legal knowledge nor versatility with either the electoral Act or Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The APC and the Bwacha campaign organisation remain very organised, very focused, and very determined to win Taraba State in the forthcoming general elections and no amount of distraction will take us off course” Artimas submitted.
A Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party PDP in the state who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said that the confusion in the APC has shown that the party lacks the capacity to rule the country and Nigeria at large if they can not even organise simple primaries for a state.
Our correspondent reports that the atmosphere in Jalingo was solemn and sober following the information that the primaries of the party have been nullified.