Barely 33 days to the 2023 general elections, the Court of Appeal in Makurdi has ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC) to conduct a fresh primary election for the nomination of its gubernatorial candidate in 11 out of the 23 local government areas in Benue State.
The affected LGAs where the court ordered a rerun includes Gboko, Gwer- East, Gwer-West, Guma, Katsina-Ala, Logo, Makurdi, Otukpo, Ukum, Tarka and Vandeikya.
The court also ordered that the APC conduct the primaries within 14 days and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognise the winner after combining election results from the 11 local government areas.
The decision followed an appeal filed by Professor Terhemba Shija, one of the aspirants of the party, who argued that there was no valid primary election held on May 27, 2022 by the APC for the nomination of its gubernatorial candidate, resulting in Fr Alia being declared the winner.
After reviewing the evidence presented by Professor Shija, the court agreed with his submission.
The Court, however, agreed with APC on the rerun of the 9th of June 2022, which took place in 12 local governments across the states, saying it was valid and still stands.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed Senator Barnabas Gemade’s appeal and upheld the Federal High Court’s decision, which dismissed his suit against Fr Alia as being statute-barred.