Adamawa Guber: I'll Take Case Against Nyako To Supreme Court, Says Ardo

Source: thewillnigeria.com
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…Governor vows to sue AIT over report

SAN FRANCISCO, February 27, (THEWILL) - The main challenger of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State in 2011 governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Umar Ardo, has promised to take his fight to nullify the primary that produced Nyako as the PDP candidate in the 2011 general election to the Supreme Court.

Ardo’s promise came on a day the Adamawa governor threatened to drag the African Independent Television (AIT) for allegedly misinforming the general public that his election had been nullified by the Appeal Court in Yola.

Alleging that that the news aired by AIT that his election had been nullified was politically motivated, the governor maintained that his political enemies that have failed in their bid to oust him were now conniving with AIT to work against him.


Ardo, a PDP governorship aspirant, had dragged Nyako and PDP to court, seeking an order for a fresh primary to be conducted and a declaration that Nyako was not a valid candidate of the party.

While reacting, Wednesday, to the judgement of the Federal Court of Appeal, Yola, which struck out his case by upholding the ruling of a lower court, Ardo told journalists that he would not give up on the matter until he gets justice.

Though the appellate court endorsed the ruling of the lower court which affirmed that Ardo lacks the locus standi to challenge the outcome of the PDP primary since he did not actively participate in it, Ardo insisted that he participated actively in the primary, though he scored no vote, saying this is what he would prove at the Supreme Court.

According to Ardo, "The Court of Appeal supported most of my grounds of arguments except the issue of participation as an aspirant and it is this issue that I will go and prove at the Supreme Court that I really participated and the result showed that I scored zero vote."

Meanwhile, the Adamawa governor has threatened to drag the African Independent Television (AIT) for allegedly misinforming the general public that his election had been nullified by the Appeal Court in Yola.


Alleging that that the news aired by AIT that his election had been nullified was politically motivated, the governor maintained that his political enemies that have failed in their bid to oust him were now conniving with AIT to work against him.

The governor, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters, Comrade Yinka Heritage, said his government will not be distracted from performing its responsibilities in view of the antics of political opponents whom he accused of trying to set the state ablaze.

According to the governor’s aide, "Nyako came to power through the people's mandate and his victory at the polls was challenged from ELectoral Tribunal up the Appeal Court which at the end upheld his victory. Now, where has the AIT got its own story.”

Arguing that in law, you don't give what you don't have, Nyako said Ardo went to court to complain that he was edged out of the PDP primaries and the Court of Appeal said he lacked the locus standi to challenge the election he did not participate in.

"Unfortunately, AIT mischievously went on air and said Nyako’s election has been nullified. We believe that the news was done by the zonal coordinator of AIT in the North East who has teamed up with the opposition to cause havoc in the state,” the governor’s aide said.

Nyako accused the founder of AIT, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, who was a former Chief of Staff to the Bamanga Tukur administration of doing a hatchet job to assist Tukur achieve his goal over the leadership tussle within the party in the state.

Also reacting, the Attorney General of the State and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Ibrahim Tahir, described the AIT report as a very sensitive one given the security challenges the states in the North-east are currently facing. He however appealed to indigenes of the state to remain calm in the face of the current provocation.