Court to hear suit on Benue LG polls June 27

A high court in Benue has fixed June 27 for hearing of a suit on LG polls. 

The suit seeks to compel the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) to conduct LG elections before the tenures of the current chairpersons elapse.

The commission fixed July 6 as the date for the polls, a week after the expiration of the tenures on June 29.

Currently, chairs of the 23 LGs are on suspension.

The Benue house of assembly approved their suspension in June 2023 following allegations of financial misappropriation levelled by Hyacinth Alia, governor of the state.

During court proceedings on Thursday, J. M Shishi, the judge, declined an accelerated hearing request from Sesugh Akume, a businessman, and fixed June 27 for the substantive suit.

Akume is seeking an order compelling BSIEC to hold the polls timeously to avoid a vacuum in governance at the local level.

No date has been fixed for hearing of another suit challenging the suspension of the LG chairs as filed by Akume.

“The officials stated that the courtroom is being used by a commission of inquiry and all cases before that court have been placed on hold indefinitely,” the businessman said in a statement.

“The officials had stated that the court could not sit on the last adjourned date 8 May (the date set at the court’s last sitting on 26 March) because the courtroom was undergoing renovation.

“In this suit, we ask the court to sack the illegal, unconstitutional caretaker committees; to declare nullified and expunge from the Local Government Law any provision that makes room for suspending elected local government councils and/or appointing unelected local government councils.

“As all such provisions are now outdated having been declared invalid by the supreme court; to declare that sacking elected local government councils is a coup d’etat, etc.”