The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in the state capital, Makurdi, has upheld the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia, dismissing the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Titus Uba….CONTINUE READING....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

In a judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Karaye, the Chairman of the three-man panel of justices, the tribunal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the petition. It deemed the issues raised in the petition to be pre-election matters, as stipulated in Section 285 of the Electoral Act.

Governor Alia, a former Catholic priest, was declared the winner of the March 18th governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after contesting on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform. He secured 473,933 votes, defeating his closest rival, Titus Uba of the PDP, who garnered 223,913 votes.

Dissatisfied with INEC’s declaration, the PDP and Uba sought to overturn the election’s outcome through the tribunal. They alleged that the candidates had not complied with electoral laws and had submitted false documents to INEC.

However, the tribunal’s judgment noted that the petitioner should have pursued the issue of Governor Alia’s qualification, nomination by the APC, and allegations of forged certificates and false information on form EC9 against his deputy, Sam Ode, at the Federal High Court.

Instead, the petitioner should have appealed the earlier dismissal of the case by the court at the Appeal Court rather than proceeding to the tribunal.