Follow Us on Google
- Says Uba, PDP appeal lacks merit
From: Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State after dismissing an appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), and its candidate, Titus Uba against his March 18 election victory for lacking in merit.
A five-man panel of Justices of the Apex Court led by Justice John Okoro, on Monday, unanimously dismissed the appeal after counsel for the appellants, Mr. Sebastian Hon, SAN, pulled out of the case, which the court noted involved pre-election issues.
The apex court said the issues canvassed in the dismissed appeal did not qualify as post-election matters.
Consequently, the court prevailed on the led counsel to the appellants, Sabastine Hon (SAN), to withdraw the appeal paving the way for its eventual dismissal.
Governor Alia, his deputy, Sam Ode, and a retinue of state officials were at the Supreme Court to witness Monday’s proceedings.
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal had also affirmed Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the validly elected governor of the state.
A three-member panel of justices of the intermediary court had in a unanimous decision dismissed Uba’s appeal as lacking in merit.
In its lead judgment that was delivered by Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, the court said it found no reason to set aside the verdict of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had on September 23 validated Alia’s election victory.
It held that some of the grounds the PDP and its candidate raised in the appeal not only bordered on pre-election issues but also had elements of crime.
According to the appellate court, the appellants had raised the issue of forgery against the Deputy Governor of the State, Mr. Samuel Ode.
It held that since the allegation that Ode submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualification to contest the election, was criminal, it ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The court further stressed that the issue of non-qualification of a candidate, being a pre-election matter, could only be ventilated at the Federal High Court and not before the election tribunal, as was done by the appellants.
It held that since the 14 days that the 1999 Constitution, as amended, allowed for the eligibility of a candidate in an election to be challenged had elapsed, the issue had become statute-barred.
Besides, the court dismissed the appellants’ contention that the APC failed to submit the name of Governor Alia to INEC at least 180 days before the gubernatorial election was held.
It held that the argument was worthless because the primary election that produced Alia as the flagbearer of the APC in the governorship election was ordered by a High Court and conducted within the period the court stipulated.
In its final analysis, the appellate court held that the appellants failed to discharge the burden of proof that was placed on them by the law.
