The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, yesterday dismissed the petition by Dame Pauline Tallen, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) who is also the immediate
past deputy-governor of the State, challenging the re-election of Governor Jonah Jang.
The judgment, which lasted over three hours, was delivered under airtight security, with the police and the Special Task Force (STF) deploying about 5,000 of their men to ensure peace.
All roads leading to the tribunal venue were guarded by Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) manned by a combined team of the police, STF and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) result of the April 26 governorship election showed that Jang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 823,536 to defeat Tallen, who polled 4949,975.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, the LP candidate had taken her case to the tribunal, complaining that the electoral guidelines in the Electoral Act, 2010, were not complied with.
But Jang and the PDP argued that the election was free, fair and complied with the Electoral Act. They prayed the court to dismiss the petition for lack of merit.
Tallen, a former Deputy-Governor of the state, presented 94 witnesses to substantiate her claims while Jang presented nine witnesses in defence of his election.
Tribunal Chairman Justice Joseph Jella said: “The assertion made by the petitioners regarding over-voting, snatching of ballot boxes, stuffing of ballot boxes, are criminal issues that should be proved beyond reasonable doubt, which the petitioners failed to do. They have, therefore, failed to convince the tribunal that the allegations were true.
“On the issue of disenfranchising voters, the petitioners did not present any voter so disenfranchised as witnesses to convince the tribunal. The petition is, therefore, dismissed for lack of merit and the election of Jang on the April 26 election is credible and is hereby upheld.”