The Abuja Court of Appeal has confirmed the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State

Alia was declared the winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but Titus Uba, the former speaker of the Benue House of Assembly and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, challenged the result and took the matter to court.

He wanted the tribunal to cancel Alia’s victory because he alleged that Samuel Ode, the running mate of the APC candidate, submitted a fake certificate to INEC.

He also argued that Alia’s name was submitted less than 180 days before the election date, and Ode was not submitted to INEC after the party held another primary election.

But the tribunal rejected the petition because it was a pre-election matter and the time limit had expired.

Uba was not satisfied with the tribunal’s verdict and appealed to the Appeal Court.

On Monday, the appeal court’s panel, headed by Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, ruled that Uba could not prove the allegations of forgery against Ode with enough evidence.

She referred to Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act and said that the high court and not the tribunal had the power to hear the case.

She also said that Uba had no right to question the qualifications of the deputy governor since he was not involved in the party’s primary.