• Industrial Court judgment upheld

Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi yesterday dismissed the  Motion on Notice filed by Governor Hyacinth Alia seeking the court to set aside the judgment obtained by the 23 local government chairmen at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Makurdi Division.

The Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, dismissed the application for judicial review for lacking in merit.

The Makurdi Division of NICN, had in a judgment delivered by Justice I. A. Essien, restrained the governor, Benue State Government, Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, and three others from dissolving or suspending the elected council Chairmen without due process before the expiration of their tenure in office on June 29, 2024, among other reliefs.

In reaction to the judgment, the governor and others filed a motion seeking a judicial review of the judgment of the NICN.

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Ruling on the application, Justice Ikpambese held that a court could only sit over the judgment of a court of coordinate jurisdiction if the judgment is a nullity or was obtained by fraud.

He ruled that the court is incompetent to review the judgment of a brother-court especially as the issue of jurisdiction had been dealt with.

Justice Ikpambese further held that there was no basis for the applicants to approach the court for a judicial review, and added that what the applicants ought to do is to appeal.

Justice Ikpambese dismissed the application for lack of merit.

Similarly, the court also dismissed the originating summons by the chairmen against the governor and five others challenging their suspension, on the grounds that the same reliefs sought in the suit before the court were granted by the NICN, a court of coordinate jurisdiction.