Benue: Court rejects APC’s appeal, orders party to pay PDP N100k compensation

The Court of Appeal has rejected an interlocutory appeal lodged by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging a ruling issued by the National and State Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Makurdi, Benue State. Additionally, the Court has mandated the APC to make payments of N100,000 each to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its House of Representatives candidate for Guma/Makurdi Federal Constituency, Mr. Benjamin Mzondu.

The decision was rendered during the deliberations on the interlocutory appeal bearing the marking CA/MK/EPT/HR/BN/02/2023. The appeal pertained to a case initiated by the PDP and Mzondu, contesting the election outcome of Dickson Tarkighir as the representative of Guma/Makurdi Federal Constituency in Benue State, on allegations of forgery.

On June 15, 2023, the APC, represented by counsel Innocent Daa’gba, requested an adjournment at the tribunal in order to present its sole witness. However, the witness failed to appear on the scheduled date. The subsequent request for an adjournment was met with opposition from Kenneth Ikonne, counsel for the PDP and Mzondu, who argued that it had been agreed earlier that all witnesses would be called on the next day, following a previous adjournment at the request of Mr. Tarkighir’s counsel.

Following deliberations, the three-member trial panel, headed by Justice Amina Aliyu, sided with Ikonne’s stance, rejecting the APC’s application for an adjournment. The panel highlighted the absence of valid reasons or assurances regarding the witness’s appearance if the adjournment were granted.

Consequently, the APC was unable to present its witness, leading to the party concluding its case without testimony. In response to the tribunal’s ruling, the APC contested the decision in the Makurdi Division of the Court of Appeal, which later transferred the matter to its Abuja division.

The APC’s appeal sought to overturn the tribunal’s ruling in petition No: EPT/BN/HR/4/2023, issued on June 15, 2023. The party aimed to reopen the case in order to present a witness in defense of their candidate, alleging ineligibility due to claims of forgery.

In a unanimous verdict, the three-member appeal panel, led by Justice Muhammed Shuaibu, dismissed the appeal as “lacking in merit” and ordered the APC to pay N100,000 to both the PDP and Mzondu.