Benue State PDP Governorship Candidate Appeals Against Tribunal Judgment 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Benue State and its candidate at the 2023 governorship election, Mr Titus Uba, have appealed against the judgment that upheld the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, led by Justice Ibrahim Karaye dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and Uba and upheld the election of Alia of the All Progressives Congress, APC on Sept. 24.

The tribunal held that issues raised by the petitioners were pre-election matters and ought to have been entertained by the Federal High Court and not by the election petitions panel.

PDP’s Publicity Secretary in Benue, Mr Bemgba Iortyom, stated on Wednesday in Makurdi that the PDP’s appeal was on 16 grounds.

Notable among them, he explained, was the tribunal’s error in law on the issue of its jurisdiction to entertain the petition.

“Our party and candidate fault the tribunal’s decision that the petition was a pre-election matter in spite of unambiguous statutory provisions and pronouncements of higher courts on the matter to the contrary.

“The party is confident that the petition was established before the tribunal as the documentary depositions made by Alia’s running mate, Mr Samuel Ode, were forged.

“Ode was not a candidate as his name was not submitted to INEC alongside that of Alia for the election as expressly required by law,’’ Iortyom stated.

He added that the PDP and Uba had faith in the judiciary and remained optimistic that the appellate court would set aside the tribunal’s judgment and deliver substantive justice in the petition.

NAN/Confidence Okwuchi