By Ijeoma Obioma in Makurdi.
The Labour Party (LP) in Benue State has rejected the verdicts delivered by the Local Government Election Petition Tribunal on the 2024 council polls, alleging irregularities and politically influenced rulings.
Addressing a press conference in Makurdi on Thursday, the State Chairman of LP, Comrade Ibrahim Idoko Otene, criticised the tribunal’s decisions and accused the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) of undermining due process.
Otene said BSIEC acted unlawfully by accepting candidates submitted by the caretaker committee led by Benjamin Omale, one of two rival factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, despite ongoing court proceedings over the party’s leadership.
“Our party warned BSIEC against recognising any APC candidates until the leadership tussle was resolved by the courts, but the Commission went ahead to accept candidates from the Omale-led faction,” he stated.
He noted that the Labour Party fulfilled all requirements for participation in the polls, including purchasing nomination forms worth N500,000 and undergoing screening, fielding candidates in all 23 local government areas where they emerged as first runners-up.
However, Otene expressed disappointment that the tribunal declared APC candidates from both factions as winners, including those from the Agada-led group, who, he alleged, neither purchased nomination forms nor participated in the elections.
He described the tribunal’s decisions as “a political compromise” and referenced legal precedents, including the 2019 Supreme Court ruling on Zamfara APC and C.P.P v Ombugadu (2013), asserting that no one should be declared winner of an election they did not validly contest.
Otene said the LP is confident that justice will prevail at the Appeal Tribunal, where the party is seeking to overturn the verdicts and have its candidates declared rightful winners.
He thanked supporters and the media for standing firm in defence of democracy, saying, “Benue belongs to all of us. We must uphold the rule of law and democratic integrity.”
The local government elections, held on October 5, 2024, saw candidates from the Omale-led APC faction initially declared winners in all 23 LGAs and 276 wards.
Following a court judgment affirming Austin Agada as the authentic state APC chairman, his faction petitioned the tribunal to recognise its candidates instead. Amid security concerns, the tribunal relocated to Abuja, ultimately declaring Agada’s candidates winners in nine LGAs and Omale’s candidates in the remaining 14.
