Court dismisses APC's appeal against Ortom's re-election as Benue governor

Damilare Famuyiwa 14:33 - 28 November 2019

Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom

The court says APC's appeal challenging Ortom's victory as Benue governor lacks merit.

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue's victory at the last general elections has, on Thursday, November 28, 2019, been upheld at the Court of Appeal.

On the ground of lacking merit, a five-man panel, led by Justice Fred Oho, dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the poll, Emmauel Jime, challenging Ortom's re-election as the state governor.

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, had initially dismissed the petition of Jime who contested against Ortom on the platform of the PDP. [SunNews]

The court also resolved all the five issues considered in the appeal against the appellants and upheld the earlier judgment of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition, which had earlier affirmed Ortom’s victory at the poll.

Governor Ortom had on March 9, 2019, contested for re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after defecting from the APC due to the continuous attacks of herdsmen in the state.