The court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Monday affirmed the victory of Benue State Governor, Hycienth Alia.
The tribunal, in its ruling by a three-member panel headed by Justice Ibrahim Karaye, noted that the appeal filed by the candidate, People Democratic Party (PDP) Titus Uba, was a pre-election issue.
The candidate of the PDP, Titus Uba, has urgged the appeal court to set aside the ruling of the tribunal, which affirmed the the election of the incumbent governor.
Uba had argued that the deputy governor, Sam Ode, had presented a forged certificate to the Independent, but in the ruling, the court noted that the governorship candidate of the PDP failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt his case.
He also noted that the the name of Alia was submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) less than 180 days, while the name of the deputy was not submitted after the party conducted a re-run primary election.
The appeal court’s three-member panel, led by Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, noted that Uba failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the allegations of forgery against Ode.
The current state governor, since his inception, has been faced with different challenges, such as backlog of salaries for state and local government workers, while insecurity is currently crippling the state with thousands of displaced people in different camps in the state.
