Benue LG Election Petition Tribunal: Chief Judge Assures Of Safety Of Lawyers, Clients, Public

…..Insists Tribunals Will Sit, Beefs Up Security At Tribunal Venues, Amidst Concerns By APC Counsels

MAKURDI: Counsels representing Respondents, that is the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunals sitting across the three senatorial zones of the state, have raised concerns over the safety of thier clients should the sitting of the tribunals hold.

The Counsels for the respondents in Zones A, B and C, Matthew Burkaa, SAN;
Mohammed Ndarani, SAN and Sunday Ameh, SAN, respectively in their letters to the Chairman of each of the Tribunal, therefore called for the suspension of the sitting until their doubts over the security concerns were cleared.

The letters were titled “Re: Notice of Tribunal Sitting on Monday 24th February, 2025 and Our Security Concerns.”

But in a swift reaction to their letters, the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, has assured the lawyers, staff of the tribunals and members of the public of their safety adding that security of the various tribunals have by taken over by the Assistant Inspector General (AIG), of Police, Zone 4, Makurdi.

While he said that his office has taken adequate measures to ensure the safety security of all, he said that the tribunal sittings will still hold, even as he urged all persons to disregard letter, from any quarters hinting the suspension of the sittings of the tribunals.

The assurance of the chief judge was contained in a letter dated Monday, 24th February, 2025, and addressed to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) chairmen of Makurdi, Gboko and Otukpo Local Government Areas (LGAs), of the state, titled “Re: Suspension of the Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal” and signed by the Chief Registrar, Franca Yuwa Esq, on behalf of the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpambese.

According to the letter “I (Chief Registrar) have been directed by the Honourable Chief Judge of Benue state, Hon Justice M. A. Ikpambese to inform the Nigerian Bar Association and the general public that after the event that took place on 19th February, 2025, whereby the sitting of the Local Government Election Petition Tribunals were disrupted by thugs, His Lordship has reported the matter to the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Zone 4, Makurdi, who has taken over the security of the High Court of Justice.

“Therefore, the security and safety of the Tribunal Judges, staff, lawyers and the general public are secured and the sitting of the Election Petition Tribunal continues at their respective venues.

“Consequently, any letter purportedly written by anyone calling for the for the suspension of the tribunal sitting should be disregarded”, the letter stated.

Earlier, in one of the letters written by the Counsel to the APC, Mathew Burkaa, SAN, said, “We indeed received on Thursday the 20th day of February, 2025 the directive of my Lord regarding the sitting of the tribunal, communicated by the Secretary of the Tribunal – Awuhe Msughter Emmanuel via the ‘Local Government Petition Tribunal Makurdi’ Whatsapp group.

“By the said directive, we were notified that the Tribunal would not sit on Friday 21st February, 2025 and that a new date for the petition (s) which ought to come up on the said Friday will be communicated to counsel on Monday, 24th February, 2025 in court.

“In the same vein, we were also informed, as a hearing notice, that the tribunal will resume sitting on Monday 24th February, 2029. We hereby with regard to the hearing notice against 24th February, 2025, state our reservation against the said sitting of the tribunal on the following grounds;

“We have noted the brewing tensed security situation around the court premises and within the state in the past few days. These state of affairs have created a serious security concern to us, as we fear for the safety of our team of lawyers and our clients should they attend sitting on the said date of Monday, 24th February, 2025.

“Consequent upon the above, we hereby respectfully request that the tribunal sitting be adjourned to a further and tentative date when adequate security measures would have been put in place to guarantee our collective security. We shall be graciously delighted if our request is given immediate and adequate due consideration”, he pleaded.

In his letter, Mohammed Ndarani, SAN, said, “We are lead counsel for the Respondents in all 93 petitions pending before the Zone A Panel of the Benue State Election Petitions Tribunal and hereby respectfully write to express our defiant reservation against the sitting of the tribunal proposed for 24th February, 2025, for which the hearing notice was sent.

“My Lord, our reservation is premised on reliable information at our disposal indicative of potential threat of violence on the welfare and safety of our team of lawyers should they attend the tribunal sitting on the said date.

“We hereby respectfully request that; the tribunal sitting be adjourned to a later date when adequate security measures would have been put in place to guarantee our collective Security.”

On his part, Sunday Ameh, SAN, wrote “My Lord, our reservation is premised on reliable information at our disposal indicative of potential threat of violence on the welfare and safety of our team of lawyers should they attend the tribunal sitting on the said date being 24th February, 2025.

“My Lord, in view of this position and the brewing tensed security situation around Court premises within the state in the past few days, we are unable to find convincing justification for our team of lawyers and our clients to attend sitting on that day”, the counsel insisted.