The people of Benue are filled with jubilation as the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Makurdi confirms the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia from the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and their governorship candidate, Titus Uba, challenging Alia’s victory, has been dismissed by the Tribunal.
Heading the three-person panel of justices, Justice Ibrahim Karaye determined that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain the petition, as it concerned a pre-election issue outlined in Section 285 of the Electoral Act.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Alia emerged as the winner of the election with 473,933 votes, surpassing his closest rival Uba, who obtained 223,913 votes.
However, discontented with the election results, Uba took the matter to court with the aim of annulling Alia’s election victory.
In its ruling, the Tribunal stated that the petitioner should have pursued the case regarding Alia’s non-qualification and nomination by the APC, as well as the allegations of a forged certificate and false information on Form EC9 against his deputy, Sam Ode, before INEC.