Moves by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election, Terhemen Tarzoor, to unseat governor Samuel Ortom of All Progressives Congress (APC) met a final brick wall today when a Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the Benue State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed the qualification and election of the governor.
The governorship candidate of the PDP, had asked the court to reverse the tribunal’s judgment and declare him winner of the April governorship election in the state. He said that the tribunal erred in its judgment as Ortom was not qualified to contest in the election.
According to him, Ortom was not validly nominated by the APC to stand for the election.
He had sought for a declaration by the appellate court to set aside the tribunal’s judgment, which had dismissed his petition for lack of merit.
Tarzoor had also asked the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare him winner of the April governorship poll.
In its argument, the APC had insisted that its candidate was validly nominated in conformity with the requirements of the Electoral Act, 2010, adding that the burden of proof rests on the shoulders of the appellants.
In an unanimous decision read by Justice Mohammed Garba, the court dismissed the appeal in its entirety for lack of merit.
Garba said the appellants failed to discharge the burden of proof, which rested on them, in line with the legal dictum that “he who alleges must prove”, adding that the lower court was right in dismissing the petition.
Meanwhile, counsel to the PDP, Donald Kertyo, had vowed to test the ruling at the Supreme Court. [myad]
