Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State in the just concluded general elections, Emmanuel Jime, and his party have head for the election petitions tribunal to challenge the victory of Governor Samuel Ortom and his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had, after the supplementary elections held on March 23, 2019, declared Ortom as the winner of the poll after he poled a total of 434.473 votes as against Jime’s 345,155 votes.

Jime had had shortly after Ortom’s victory, vowed to go to the elections petition tribunal to contest the victory.

In fulfillment of his promise, Jime of Friday, in company with his legal team made up of five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and over 50 lawyers, trooped in to file a petition at the tribunal’s headquarters, High Court 6, Opposite Immigration office, Old GRA, Makurdi.

Leading the Jime legal team, according to a statement by the  Deputy-Director Communications, Jime/Ode Campaign Organisation (JOCO) 2019, Kula Tersoo, is Yusuf Ali (SAN), an advocate of note.

The petition stated that Governor Ortom who is the second respondent was not duly elected by lawful votes cast and that his (Ortom’s) election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

Addressing party faithful after filing the petition, Jime expressed hope that he would come out victorious at the tribunal, given the huge cache of evidence and proofs discovered after the inspection of electoral materials at INEC and other dependable witnesses.