Chairman of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Justices Halima Mohammed, has fixed December 8 for the ruling in the application brought before the panel by Governor Gabriel Suswam seeking to dismiss the petition against re-election. Justices Mohammed chose the date yesterday at the High Court in Makurdi, venue of the tribunal sitting, after listening to arguments by the counsel to the respondents and the petitioners. In pursuance to Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution, Suswam’s counsel, Damian Dodo (SAN), prayed the tribunal to strike out the petition because it has elapsed.
The application was supported by a seven paragraph affidavit as well as written addresses in support of the affidavit. Dodo said Section 285 (6) of the 1999 constitution is not only mandatory, but also absolute on the time frame legally set to hear election petition. In a similar application, lead counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solo Akuma, urged the tribunal to apply the Supreme Court decision in the PDP vs CPC and others and also Shetima vs Goni and, therefore, prayed the panel to grant the application and strike out the petition. But lead counsel to the ACN governorship candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) opposed the two applications. He said the applications were mischievous, lacked merits and have no bases in law.
Akeredolu drew the attention of the panel to the Supreme Court that limited the petitions for hearing on its merit. He, therefore, urged the tribunal to dismiss the applications. The Court of Appeal has also adjourned till December 8 ruling in the alleged certificate forgery filed against the governor by the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate, Prof. Daniel Saror. The respondent counsel argued that the motion put forward by the petitioner was an academic exercise. But counsel to Saror, C.S Orpin, stressed that the decision of the court, which ordered the retrial of the case by another panel, did not imply it is an academic exercise.