By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Benue chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the state governor, Alia Hyacinth, have been handed a decisive victory by the Appeal Panel on Local Government Petitions sitting Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) House in Abuja, in a verdict that affirmed that the APC made a clean sweep of all the 23 local governments in the state in October 2024 elections.
This is as the panel upheld that the elections of all 23 local government chairmen on the platform of the APC.
The verdict, delivered on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, overturned earlier decisions by the Local Government Election Petition Tribunals, which had nullified APC victories in nine local councils.
The nullification followed a petition filed mainly by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and supported by other opposition groups in the state in the wake of the October 2024 elections conducted by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).
The affected local government areas in the earlier rulings were Vandeikya, Konshisha, Kwande, Ushongo, Otukpo, Agatu, Ado, Apa, and Ohimini.
However, delivering its ruling on Tuesday, the appellate panel dismissed, citing lack of merit and insufficient evidence of non-compliance with electoral laws.
