Court Of Appeal Nullifies APC Guber Primaries In Benue

The governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been nullified by the Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi.

The court on Monday directed the APC to conduct a fresh primary election in 11 out of the 23 local government areas of Benue State.

Naija News learnt that the local government areas listed are Gboko, Gwer- East, Gwer-West, Guma, Katsina-Ala, Logo, Makurdi, Otukpo, Ukum, Tarka and Vandeikya.

APC was also directed to conduct the primaries within fourteen days and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognises the winner after adding election results from the 12 local government areas.

The court ruling is coming thirty-three days before the 2023 general elections.

The judgement was passed following an appeal filed by one of the aspirants on the platform of the APC, Professor Terhemba Shija.

Shija argued that there was no valid primary election held on 27th May 2022 by APC for the nomination of its gubernatorial candidate which produced Fr Alia as the winner.

The court after evaluating evidence submitted by Professor Shija agreed with his submissions.

However, the Court agreed with APC on the rerun of 9th June 2022, which took part in 12 local governments of the states, noting that it was valid and still stands.

Meanwhile, the court dismissed Senator Barnabas Gemade’s appeal and upheld the judgement of the Federal High Court, which dismissed his suit against Fr Alia for being statute-barred.