September 23, (THEWILL) – The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi has affirmed Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia the duly elected Governor of Benue State.
The tribunal, in a judgment delivered on Saturday, dismissed the petition filed by Titus Uba, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 gubernatorial election in Benue.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had, on March 21, declared Fr. Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the guber poll.
Not satisfied with the outcome of the poll, the PDP and Uba approached the tribunal seeking to nullify the victory of Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
Uba had urged the tribunal to nullify the election of Alia over the allegation of certificate forgery against his deputy, Sam Ode.
THEWILL reports that the Federal High Court had earlier dismissed the forgery allegation against Ode.
However, a three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Ibrahim Karaye, on Saturday, held that the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the petition.
Justice Karaye held that by the provision of Section 285 of the Electoral Act 2022, the issues raised by the petitioner were entirely pre-election matters.
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