The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Makurdi, has affirmed Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, the duly elected governor of Benue State.

The tribunal in a judgment delivered on Saturday, dismissed the petition filed by Titus Uba, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18th gubernatorial election in Benue.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had on March 21, declared Fr. Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the guber poll.

Not satisfied with the outcome of the poll, the PDP and Uba approached the tribunal seeking to  nullify the victory of Fr. Hyacinth Alia.

While the the Federal High Court had earlier dismissed the allegation of certificate forgery against his deputy, Sam Ode, the PDP and Uba urged the tribunal to nullify the election of Alia over same alleged certificate forgery against his deputy.

Ruling on the petition on Saturday,  a three-member panel of Justices led by Ibrahim Karaye, held that the tribunal lacked the  jurisdiction to entertain the petition.

The court held that by the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the petition, adding that by the provision of Section 285 of the Electoral Act 2022, the issue raised by the petitioners, were pre-election matters.

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