The Supreme Court in Abuja yesterday confirmed Herman Hembe as the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Benue State for tomorrow’s governorship election.
The Supreme Court denied an appeal filed by Benjamin Lorlumum and one other, who sought disqualification of the respondent from the governorship campaign on numerous grounds.
In a unanimous decision, Judge Heleen Ogunwumiju denied the disqualification request because it lacked merit and legal support.
Another party governorship candidate, Benjamin Iorlumum, and one other person filed the SC/CV/344/2023 appeal against Hembe, LP, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The two appellants complained that the LP governorship candidate was still a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the time he participated and won the party’s governorship primary.
The appellants particularly accused Hembe of participating in both APC and LP primary elections on the same date and time, as well as purportedly displaying dual APC and LP membership.
Based on their claims, they petitioned the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal to use relevant legislation to annul Hembe’s election as a governorship candidate.
The claim was dismissed by both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal based on their findings of facts that the governorship candidate resigned from the APC before crossing over to the LP and winning the governorship primary.
Lorlumum appealed to the Supreme Court after being dissatisfied with the decisions of the two lower courts, claiming that the two lower courts did not investigate all of the points he brought against Hembe, particularly his membership in two political parties at the same time.
He has sought the supreme court to strike aside the verdict of the Court of Appeal handed on February 10, 2023, and proclaim him the “only candidate that participated in LP’s governorship primary election, held on June 9, 2022.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in its final judgment that the respondent proved his retirement from the APC properly through documentary evidence and a letter of resignation.
Furthermore, Justice Ogunwumiju stated that participation in two primary elections was not permitted if the person was not a member of two political parties at the same time.
In upholding the concurrent findings of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, Judge Ogunwumiju stated that there was no basis to overturn the findings.
She later dismissed the appellant’s plea for lack of merit and upheld Hembe’s candidacy as valid for LP’s participation in tomorrow’s governorship election in Benue State.
