Appeal Court Affirms Governor Alia’s Election Victory

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the victory of Hyacinth Alia as the duly elected Governor of Benue State.
This is even as the court dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate,Titus Uba.
Alia contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and won the March 18, 2023, governorship election in the state.
The PDP and Uba had challenged the September 23 judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that upheld Alia’s election.
Uba had alleged that Alia’s deputy, Samuel Ode presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission contrary to Section 182(1)(j) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
He also informed the tribunal that Alia’s name was submitted less than 180 days before the election date and Ode’s name was not submitted to INEC after the party conducted a further re-run primary election.
To this end, a three-member panel of the tribunal headed by Justice Ibrahim Karaye dismissed the petition on the ground that it was a pre-election matter and was statute-barred.
But delivering his judgement on Monday, a three-man panel of the Appeal Court Justices led by Onyekachi Aja Otisi held that Uba failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the allegations of forgery against Ode.
The court held that the appeal lacked merit.