On Monday, no fewer than 39 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State petitioned the Federal High Court in Makurdi to declare the party’s primary election for governor in the State invalid.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the APC, and Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia were all sued by APC members for allegedly violating their right to participate in the party’s direct primaries.
They claimed that this was due to the membership register not being used, which was against INEC laws and guidelines for candidate nomination for the general elections of 2023 as well as APC regulations 20, 22, and 26.
The members claimed that because there was no accreditation and the primary was never conducted in accordance with the statutes in effect governing the conduct of direct primary elections, the results that were announced were invalid.
Pine Benjamin and 38 other APC members are asking the court to rule on whether INEC is not in violation of sections 77(2) and (3), 82(1),(2), and (5); 84(1),(4)(a)-(c) and (13) of the Electoral Act, 2022; and sections 177(c) and 285(14) (c-the part that begins with “or” to the end thereof) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, read together the pertinent exhibits that are attached to the supporting affidavit hereto. INEC is not required to publish or list Rev. Alia or any other guber candidate as a candidate supported by the APC for the governorship election in Benue State in 2023, but it may be ordered to do so by the court.
Additionally, they are requesting a permanent injunction prohibiting the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from accepting the names of any candidates to run as the APC’s governor of Benue State in the general elections of 2023.
Dr. Terlumun Ikya, Mr. Bernard Yisa, Dr. Mathias Byuan, Godwin Tyoachimin, and Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN are listed as additional co-defendants.
Senator Barnabbas Gemade, Rt. Honorable Herman Hembe, Mr. Anyom Mlanga, Honorable Terwase Orbunde, Chief Stephen Lawani, Dr. Sam Ode, and Prof. Terhemba Shija are some of the others.
Samuel Irabor, the plaintiffs’ attorney, urged the court to grant the plaintiffs’ requests for relief during the hearing. Irabor submitted a 38-paragraph affidavit in support of the originating summons along with supporting documents.
He claimed that INEC, who is named as the first defendant in the lawsuit, decided not to defend the suit.
Irabor requested that the court interpret the uncontested allegation as an admission in accordance with section 123 of the Evidence Act of 2011.
He argued that the INEC report on the APC’s gubernatorial primaries in Benue State makes it abundantly clear that membership registers were not utilised in the state’s direct gubernatorial primary election.
Irabor argued that the argument that Terlumun Ikya and Sam Ode’s attorneys, Jerry Aondo, and the plaintiffs are intrusive interlopers is based on section 87(9) of the Electoral Act of 1918, not the Electoral Act of 2022.
He drew the court’s attention to the fourth amendment to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed in May 2018 and gave rise to section 285(14)(c), which gives the court the authority to hear complaints pertaining to primaries as well as those from political parties and aspirants.
Mamman Mike Osuman, SAN, Alia’s attorney, objected that the plaintiffs hadn’t filed their lawsuit in a timely manner. Irabor countered that the lawsuit was submitted on June 9, 2022, while the APC was still holding a rerun of the alleged governorship primary election that day.
Irabor drew attention to the fact that the plaintiffs’ membership form and Bola Tinubu’s and Rev. Alia’s membership forms are identical, and Alia’s attorney has yet to address this.
He urged the court to disregard the defendants’ challenges to the lawsuit and approve the plaintiffs’ requests for relief.
All of the attorneys requested the court to dismiss the case, including those for the APC, Dikko Ishaku, SAN, Rev. Alia, Mamman MkketOsuman, SAN, and Drs. Terlumun Ikya and Sam Ode, Jerry Aondo.
According to Osuman, SAN, the lawsuit should be dismissed because it was filed ineffectively.
Justice Abdul Dogo, the presiding court, deferred the case for judgement at a later date that will be announced to the parties to the lawsuit after hearing the lawyers’ arguments.
