Benue: Suit Against Alia Dead On Arrival – Lead Counsel

Lead counsel to the All Progressives Congress, (APC) governorship candidate in Benue State, Mamman Mike Usuman, SAN has expressed confidence that the suit at the Federal High Court in Makurdi challenging the emergence of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iornem Alia as the authentic party flag bearer of APC for the 2023 polls will not see the light of the day.

This is even as Justice Abdu Dogo yesterday adjourned to September 13, 2022, the case between 39 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), 15 aspirants of the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and some candidates for hearing.

Speaking with newsmen after the Court proceedings, Usuman said the crux of the matter is the outcome of the primaries that took place for political parties and after substantial compliance with both the Electoral Act and Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria as amended and guidelines of INEC, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia emerged as the preferred candidate for APC.

He said, “Understandingly, people who contested with him were unsatisfied and unhappy. Rather than take it graciously and honorably, they made some complaints. Their complaints were thoroughly investigated in accordance with the rules of the game and at the end of the day, the party established Fr. Alia was the bonafide elected candidate to stand as candidate of the party in the forthcoming Governorship election.”

“So, ill advisedly, they filed processes in court both at the Federal High Court in Abuja and Makurdi. We are at the preliminary stage. The plaintiff’s filed an originating summons, that process was served on my client and in response, we filed a counter affidavit.

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“We adjudged the process as being deficient and so, we filed a preliminary objection and we have no doubt in our mind that the Preliminary objection will be upheld and that particular complaints will not see the light of the day.”

According to him, “They said in their complaints that they were aspirants and after a critical look at the records, we found out that they were not aspirants and only an aspirant or a political party can complain. If you look at the suit, none of the plaintiffs was an aspirant and the judicial palance we use for such is meddlesome interlopers and their conduct constitutes an abuse of the court.

He said, “The plaintiff’s are members of the APC. So, it is absurd that members of the APC will later turn around and institute a court process without exhausting the avenue within the party for dispute resolution.”

Patricia Jooji, who is for plaintiff’s defendants, said 39 APC members and 15 aspirants had filed a preliminary objection as well as a counter affidavit to the originating summons, adding that they have responded to the processes and served them on all parties.

She however noted that the second defendant’s lawyer A.S Gayaf filed his processes today which they need to take a critical look at to respond appropriately.