Court stops relocation of Benue Election Tribunal to Makurdi

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has issued an interim order restraining the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Tribunal from relocating to Makurdi.

Justice M.M. Adamu granted the order on Friday in response to an ex parte motion dated March 11, 2025, filed by Anderson Asemota on behalf of the claimants, including the Benue State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Augustine Agada, and two others.

Earlier, the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpembese, had ordered the relocation of the tribunal to the Nigeria Bar Association House, Abuja, citing security concerns. Consequently, the tribunal was scheduled to commence sitting in Abuja on March 10, 2025. However, a Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi halted the move and directed that the tribunal be relocated back to Benue State.

In the latest ruling, secured by the APC chairman on Friday, the High Court in Abuja reaffirmed that the tribunal should continue its proceedings at the NBA House in Abuja.

The claimants in the case include Augustine Agada (APC State Chairman), Daniel Ihomun (APC State Publicity Secretary), and the All Progressives Congress. The defendants include Justices Ityouyimen, D.E. Igoh, and M.M. Odinya, who chair the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunals for Zones A, B, and C, alongside 15 others.

The court ordered that the tribunal and appeal tribunal must continue sitting in Abuja to hear petitions arising from the Benue State local government elections held on October 5, 2024, until the Motion on Notice is heard and determined. Additionally, it restrained the defendants from relocating the tribunal from Abuja and directed security agencies to provide necessary protection to facilitate the tribunal’s proceedings in the FCT.

The case has been adjourned to April 29, 2025, for the hearing of the Motion on Notice.