A fresh wave of political controversy has erupted in Benue State following the ruling of the Local Government Election Petition Tribunal, with the Labour Party (LP) strongly rejecting the verdict and accusing the Tribunal of endorsing what it described as “flagrant disobedience to court orders” and “an assault on democracy.”
In a press statement issued by Comrade Aluh Moses Odeh, the Labour Party’s councilorship candidate for Ugbokolo Ward, the party condemned the Tribunal’s decision to uphold results that favored two rival factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC), despite a clear court ruling invalidating one of the factions.
The Tribunal had earlier criticized the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) for recognizing the faction of the APC loyal to Governor Hyacinth Alia, which Odeh noted, had openly violated a court order. The faction, according to the statement, was not the officially recognized group led by Comrade Austin Agada, an APC leader loyal to Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
Surprisingly, the Tribunal still awarded 14 of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to the Governor Alia-backed faction. The remaining 9 LGAs were awarded to the Agada-led faction — a development the Labour Party calls a politically motivated “power-sharing deal” designed to appease warring interests within the APC.
“This ruling contradicts well-established legal precedents,” Odeh stated, referencing landmark judgements in Zamfara State (2019) and Plateau State (2023), where courts invalidated victories obtained through unlawful party processes and either ordered reruns or handed victories to the lawful runners-up.
“In the Zamfara case, the APC was disqualified, and PDP candidates were declared winners. In Plateau, the PDP was barred from rerun elections due to party irregularities. Why then is the Benue Tribunal rewarding the same kind of disobedience?” Odeh queried.
The Labour Party, which claims to have secured the highest number of valid votes in the election, is demanding that the Tribunal reverse its decision and declare LP candidates as the rightful winners in all affected LGAs.
“All 299 Labour Party candidates for Chairmanship and Councillorship positions are indigenes of Benue State. The APC factions, which were either unqualified or never screened by BSIEC, should not benefit from a process they compromised,” Odeh asserted.
He further alleged that in his own contest in Ugbokolo Ward, the APC opponent did not meet the fundamental legal requirement of tax compliance and had never paid tax. Despite this, Odeh’s petition was dismissed, reinforcing what he sees as the Tribunal’s bias.
Describing the entire ruling as a miscarriage of justice, Odeh called on civil society organizations, legal experts, and the general public to rally behind the Labour Party’s effort to reclaim what he terms “a stolen mandate.”
“Benue State is not a political booty to be shared among elite factions. Justice must be served, not only for the sake of Labour Party but for the preservation of our democracy,” he said.
Odeh expressed hope in the appellate process, highlighting that Justice Theresa Igoche, now Chairperson of the Appeal Court, is the same judge who originally issued the court order that was ignored by the APC. “We trust in her integrity and are hopeful that the Appeal Court will right this wrong,” he added.
As tensions rise and eyes turn toward the appellate court, the Labour Party maintains its position: only a full restoration of its mandate will uphold the will of the Benue people and protect the democratic future of the State.
The full statement reads:
“Press Statement: Reaction To Judgement of Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal.
“The Benue State Election Petition Tribunal in her judgement accused Benue State Independent Electoral Commission BSIEC interloper for blatantly refused to recognized the Comr. Austin Agada led authentic faction of APC loyal to SGF, Sen. Dr. George Akume CON and went ahead to recognized the illegal Caretaker Committee loyal to Gov. Alia that flagrantly disobeyed Court order, however same Tribunal in the judgement rewarded both the illegal Caretaker Committee faction loyal to Gov. Alia with 14 of the 23 Local Government Area in the State this contradict the judgement of two Courts in the case of Zamfara State All Progressive Congress APC in 2019 and Plateau State Peoples Democratic Party PDP in 2023 where the Court sacked APC then ordered INEC to issued the second runner PDP certificate of return and in Plateau State PDP the Court ordered for a rerun and banished PDP from the rerun. Why is Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal rewarding flagrant disobedience to Court order?
“The Comr. Austin Agada’s camp loyal to the SGF that never participated in the election or screened by the electoral body BSIEC was rewarded with 9 of the 23 LGAs to mean the Tribunal must implemented the original move in APC to share the 23 LGAs between Gov. Alia and Sen. George Akume to appease their ego, does it mean a political party can fielded two candidates for one position in one election?
“The action of the Tribunal refusing to declared Labour Party been the next party with the highest votes as it happened in the past mean the Tribunal is an interloper and this action puts our democracy in grave danger and laying bad foundation for the younger generation.
“Something good be done urgently to return power to Labour Party as APC didn’t participated in the election in addition can’t benefit from it. Labour Party with the highest votes be declare winner since all 299 LP Candidates both Chairmanship and Councillors are indigenes and people of Benue State.
“Most shameful is that the APC Candidate that contested against me didn’t meet the electoral requirements to stand for the election as he never paid tax for once in his life however the Tribunal dismissed my case same way it’s rewarding disobedience to Court order perpetuated by APC.
“Benue State is not a booty to be shared among warring parties, let the right thing be done at the right time to save our democracy, therefore people of good conscience should rise in defense of Labour Party in Benue State to stop this miscarriage of justice perpetuated by Benue State Election Petition Tribunal and reclaim our stolen mandate.
“The good news is that the Chairman of the Appeal Court JSC. Theresa Igoche is the same Justice that issued the Court order that was disobeyed by APC. Support Labour Party Benue State for mandate reclaim.
Comr. Aluh Moses Odeh,
LP Councillorship Candidate,
Ugbokolo Ward.”
