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The Benue State Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal has been directed by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to convene in Abuja in order to consider and rule on all petitions pertaining to the local government elections scheduled for October 5, 2024.

The security concerns in Benue State influenced this decision.

In a same vein, the Local Government Appeal Tribunal on the contentious election was given permission to carry on with its hearings at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) House in Abuja.

The order was made by Justice M. M. Adamu during his decision-making in an ex-parte application that was submitted to him by the Benue State faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Attorney Anderson Asemota argued the ex-parte application on behalf of the applicants, which include the APC, Daniel Ihonmu (publicity secretary), and Augustine Agada (chairman).

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the NBA President, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) are additional respondents in the ex-parte application.

In the ruling, Justice Adamu prohibited the chairmen of the Petition Tribunals in the three Benue zones from moving to Makurdi to hear matters related to the elections.

In order to decide whose appeals may be submitted before the Appeal Tribunal regarding the council election, he also prevented them from traveling from Abuja to the capital of Benue State.

During the tribunal’s sessions in Abuja, Justice Adamu directed the Nigeria Police and the Inspector-General of Police to ensure the tribunal was secure.

ZINGTIE obtained an enrolled order by the court and it read in part:

“Upon hearing Anderson U. Asemota, Esq., Counsel for the Claimant/Applicant, on a Motion Ex-parte dated the 11th day of March 2025 and filed on the 12th day of March 2025, supported by a 17-paragraph affidavit praying for the following:

“AN ORDER INTERIM directing, mandating, or compelling the 1st to 11th Defendants to continue conducting sittings and holding proceedings of the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal and the Benue State Appeals Tribunal at the NBA House, Abuja, for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals or petitions arising from the Local Government elections of Benue State held on the 5th of October 2024, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice filed contemporaneously with this application.

“AN ORDER OF INTERIM INJUNCTION restraining the 1st to 14th Defendants from relocating the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal and the Benue State Appeals Tribunal sitting at the NBA House, Abuja, or any other venue within the territorial or geographical delineation of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to Benue State, for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals or petitions arising from the Local Government elections of Benue State held on the 5th of October 2024, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice filed contemporaneously with this application.

“AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT directing or mandating the 16th to 17th Defendants, whether directly by themselves or indirectly through their officers, agents, privies, representatives, attorneys, or any persons acting under their instructions or control, to provide security cover to the 1st–11th Defendants aimed at facilitating the sitting of the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal and the Benue State Appeal Tribunal within the geographical territory of the FCT, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice filed contemporaneously with this application.

“And for such order or orders that this court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.”

Asemota while reacting to the court’s decision said:

“The order we got, basically, is to say that the tribunal has the power to continue holding its proceedings here in Abuja and that the court has directed that they should go ahead to conduct their proceedings here.

“The court also directed that there should be no relocation because the time left for this is less than 20 days. Moreover, there is serious insecurity back where they are coming from.

“So they cannot go back to ‘Egypt’ (Benue) because if they return to Egypt (Benue), what we are saying is that if they return, the proceedings cannot be concluded.

“And the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the petitioners, those who have taken their petitions to the tribunal, would have been infringed upon completely.

“And that’s a right guaranteed by the Constitution. So the tribunal, the judges, the members of the panel cannot hold their proceedings outside Abuja.

“The petitioners, as a people, have their rights, and their right is guaranteed by Section 36 of the Constitution. If you go to the polls and you are not satisfied, it’s part of democracy. And that’s the essence of the theory of the rule of law, propounded by Professor A.V. Dicey.

“The court has come to galvanize and to electroplate the provisions of the Constitution—to say that the procedure of the tribunal is time-bound. It’s not like other cases where you have forever to conduct proceedings.

“They have 180 days. And it is taking into account these 180 days that the court decided to say the tribunal has power and should go ahead to conduct its proceedings here in Abuja and conclude within the time allowed.

“By the 14th of next month or so, the 180 days would have expired completely. So that is the purpose of the order my Lord made—to try to salvage the situation.

“To ensure that none of the petitioners is denied his or her rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. In simple terms, that is what the matter is all about.”

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