A High Court in Benue State has scheduled June 27 for a hearing concerning the upcoming local government (LG) elections. The suit aims to compel the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) to hold the elections before the current chairpersons’ terms expire.
The BSIEC has set July 6 as the election date, a week after the current chairpersons’ terms end on June 29. Presently, the chairpersons of the 23 local governments are suspended.
The Benue House of Assembly approved the suspension of the LG chairs in June 2023 following allegations of financial misappropriation by the state’s governor, Hyacinth Alia.
During Thursday’s court proceedings, Judge J. M. Shishi denied a request for an accelerated hearing from businessman Sesugh Akume and instead fixed June 27 for the substantive suit. Akume seeks a court order to compel BSIEC to conduct the elections promptly to avoid a governance vacuum at the local level.
Additionally, no date has been set for another suit filed by Akume challenging the suspension of the LG chairpersons. Akume mentioned that court officials informed him that the courtroom is being used by a commission of inquiry, causing all cases before that court to be placed on hold indefinitely.
“The officials said the court could not sit on the last adjourned date, May 8, due to ongoing renovations,” Akume stated.
In his suit, Akume calls for the court to disband what he describes as illegal and unconstitutional caretaker committees and to remove from the Local Government Law any provisions allowing for the suspension of elected local government councils or the appointment of unelected councils. He argues that such provisions are outdated and have been invalidated by the Supreme Court, asserting that the dismissal of elected local government councils constitutes a coup d’etat.