The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, located in Makurdi, has upheld the election victory of Governor Hyacinth Alia from the All Progressives Congress (APC). The tribunal ruled against the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Titus Uba, who had challenged the election held on March 18, citing jurisdictional issues.
Justice Ibrahim Karaye, the chairman of the three-member panel of justices, stated that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the petition because the issues raised were pre-election matters in line with section 285 of the Electoral Act. The tribunal's decision was based on the belief that the petitioner should have pursued the case concerning Governor Alia's qualification, nomination by the APC, and allegations of forged certificates and false information on form EC9 against his deputy, Sam Ode, before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This should have been done beyond the Federal High Court, which had already dismissed the petitioner's previous suit and taken it to the Court of Appeal, rather than bringing it to the tribunal.
Governor Hyacinth Alia secured victory in the March election with 473,933 votes, while his closest rival, Titus Uba, garnered 223,913 votes, according to INEC's official results.
