The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal against the election of Governor Hycinth Alia of Benue State. It has also reserved judgment in the Ebonyi State governorship election appeal for a later date.
On Benue’s case, the dismissal followed the withdrawal of the appeal by counsel to Mr Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sebastian Hon.
Uba had challenged the victory of Governor Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, both the Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal Abuja, had affirmed Alia’s election as governor of Benue State, following his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
The Court of Appeal had said it lacked the jurisdiction to hear the petition because it was a pre-election matter.
The court held that Uba ought to have prosecuted the forgery allegation against Sam Ode, the deputy governor at the high court.
It also held that Uba failed to prove allegations of forgery against Ode beyond reasonable doubt.
Supreme Court reserves judgement in Ebonyi gov election appeal
The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the Ebonyi State governorship election appeal for a later date.
Justice John Okoro reserved the judgment after the parties adopted their briefs of argument on Monday.
Recall that the Court of Appeal in Lagos had earlier affirmed the election of Francis Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State.
In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel led by Justice Jummai Sankey dismissed the appeal filed by Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The panel also resolved all five issues raised against the appellant and dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.
Justice Sankey held that the PDP and its candidates lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress as it relates to the nomination of candidates.
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