JUST IN! Court Decides Benue Governor’s Fate

Reports from Benue state have it that the court of appeal sitting in Makurdi has upheld the election of Samuel Ortom as the governor of the state.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Terhemen Tarzoor, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had asked the court to reverse the tribunal’s judgment and declare him winner of the April governorship election in the state, based on the fact that the tribunal erred in its judgment because Ortom was not qualified to contest in the election.

Governor Samuel Ortom

Ortom, according to Tarzoor, was not validly nominated by the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC) to stand for the election and the PDP man had asked the appellate court to set aside the tribunal’s judgment which had dismissed his petition for lack of merit.

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While asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to adjudge him winner of the April governorship poll, Tarzoor’s APC insisted that its candidate was validly nominated in conformity with the requirements of the Electoral Act, 2010.

All parties in the case, APC, PDP, INEC had filed cross appeals and cross appellant appeals challenging certain aspects of the tribunal’s judgment, but in a unanimous decision read by Justice Mohammed Garba, the court dismissed the appeal in its entirety for lack of merit.

Recall that the governor recently forced eleven permanent secretaries in the state civil service into retirement owing to health related issues, while he has also insisted that his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam must face the law over allegations of fraud.

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