Former Chairman, Governing Board of the Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has raised the alarm over what he described as a coordinated attempt to use the judiciary to destabilise the administration of Benue Governor Hyacinth Alia.
In a statement in Abuja, Onjeh stated that the National Judicial Council (NJC) must immediately break its silence and declare its stance on the recent judgments by some judges of the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal.
According to him, the NJC’s inaction is gradually eroding the integrity of the judiciary not only in Benue State but across the nation, stating if the NJC fails to speak up now, it risks being perceived as complicit in “the subversion of democracy and the rule of law.”
“The National Judicial Council (NJC) must not remain silent. It must intervene now, just as it did when it declared that Governor Alia had no powers to remove the Benue State Chief Judge, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, even in the face of the clear, unambiguous, and express provision of the Nigerian Constitution 1999, as amended.
“If the NJC could act swiftly, ostensibly to protect the Chief Judge from suffering any injury, then it must equally act to protect the already sworn-in Benue local government council chairmen, as well as the leadership of Governor Alia, from injury; in addition to preserving the sanctity of the electoral law and the credibility of the judiciary,” Onjeh argued.
He urged the NJC to clearly affirm that it is a principle of law that only candidates who participated in an election have the locus standi to file petitions at the Tribunal—and that intra-party disputes must be resolved internally or in conventional courts, as held severally by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The NJC must also caution the Appeal Panel justices on the true position of the law as to who has the locus to file a petition at any election petition tribunal.
The Appeal Panel, according to Onjeh, is the final arbiter in this matter and its ruling will shape the political and legal landscape of Benue State for years to come.
He added that it must not be allowed to hand over the reins of local governance to those who did not earn the people’s mandate.
Onjeh alleged the recent tribunal judgments annulling several local government elections won by the legitimate candidates of the APC under Governor Alia’s leadership were part of a broader plot by desperate political actors to hijack local governance and weaken the Governor’s administration.
He claimed that, having failed to control the State Assembly and block federal allocations to local governments, these forces are now using the judiciary to “share governance” in the state.
He criticised the Chief Judge of Benue State for allegedly granting unlawful waivers for security deposits to certain petitioners, in direct violation of Section 76, Subsection (1) to (4) of the Benue State Local Government Electoral Law, which mandates such deposits as a prerequisite for filing petitions.
“Sub-Section (4) particularly states that if security is not given at the time of filing the petition, there shall not be any further proceedings on the petition,” Onjeh stated.
Onjeh emphasised that the use of the term “shall” in legal statutes denotes compulsion, not discretion.
However, the Chief Judge, in an unprecedented judicial overreach, cited alleged “public outcry by prospective petitioners” as grounds for granting the waiver.
Onjeh countered that no such outcry was recorded in the public domain, suggesting that any such discussion must have happened behind closed doors, which is unethical and raises serious concerns of bias.
The former student activist and President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) argued that Justice Ikpambese had no right to single-handedly rewrite the electoral laws of Benue State or the Constitution of Nigeria, adding that the job of the Chief Judge is simply to interpret the law and apply it, not to amend or review it.
“Predictably, following this waiver, over 200 APC members—many of them from a faction opposed to Governor Alia—rushed to file petitions.
“This was clearly a coordinated move to flood the Tribunal with meritless cases in the hope of overturning the will of the electorate. Ironically, all of these petitioners admitted they did not even participate in the general election,” he added.
He maintained that the law is crystal clear: only candidates who participated in an election can challenge its outcome, adding that the Tribunals are not meant for settling intra-party squabbles or pre-election disputes.
Those, Onjeh opined, belong in conventional courts. Yet the same Tribunal that rightly dismissed similar petitions from PDP and Labour Party members on the grounds of incompetence has now found a curious justification to entertain and uphold cases brought by APC members against their own party.
He posited that this unilateral decision by the Chief Judge constituted a flagrant violation of the principle of functus officio — the idea that once the Chief Judge had constituted the election tribunal, he no longer had legal authority to interfere in its proceedings, let alone amend existing laws.
The Chief Judge’s actions, according to Onjeh, were ultra vires, exceeding constitutional powers and amounting to direct interference in the statutory role of the Benue State House of Assembly.
Onjeh lamented the inconsistency in the Tribunal’s rulings, noting that while petitions filed by opposition parties were dismissed on grounds of incompetence, those filed by internal APC petitioners — all of whom did not even participate in the elections — were accepted and entertained, leading to nullifications of valid elections.
He further criticised the controversial relocation of the Tribunal sittings from Makurdi to Abuja, reportedly on the grounds of security concerns. Onjeh argued that the claim of security threats was unfounded and merely a ploy to shield the tribunal from public scrutiny.
Onjeh further noted that during the height of insurgency and insecurity in the North East, it was never recorded that any Local Government Election Tribunal was ever relocated out of a state, because of Section 7 of the Constitution.
He added that even in the heat of the insecurity and incessant kidnappings in the South East, it was never reported that any of the Local Government Election Tribunals in any of the South East states was ever relocated to Abuja.
“On whose authority is the relocation of the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal to Abuja, and who is financing it? The Governor was not even pre-informed of the relocation, because he had earlier given assurances of adequate security throughout the period of the Tribunals’ sittings. How many Chief Security Officers do we now have in Benue State?” enquired Onjeh.
Further dismissing Justice Ikpambese’s claims of insecurity, Onjeh stated that the State, National Assembly and Governorship Elections Tribunals all sat peacefully in Benue State after the 2023 General Election despite the fact that the Governor and His Deputy were respondents; along with senators, House of Representatives and House of Assembly members, and the cases were even between the APC, PDP and Labour, unlike this one in which only APC members were challenging the declaration of other APC members.
Drawing a biblical analogy, Onjeh likened the situation to the judgment of King Solomon. “In the biblical story, when two women claimed to be the mother of a child, Solomon offered to divide the child. The false claimant agreed, revealing her lack of genuine care. That is exactly what the anti-Alia elements want — to divide and destroy what they couldn’t build.”
“Father Alia’s detractors have been squarely defeated by the Reverend Gentleman on several occasions in the past. They are down now, therefore they fear no fall. They don’t care if the baby – in this case Benue State – is split in two, provided they achieve their aim of destabilizing the governor’s administration,” stated Onjeh.
Onjeh warned that it is becoming apparent there is a grand conspiracy to overturn the victories of current LG Council Chairmen in all 23 local government areas of the state, at the Appeal Panel with the aim of installing candidates who never stood for election.
Onjeh hinted at a growing suspicion that powerful individuals at the national level were manipulating the judicial process to serve their narrow political interests. He said the fact that Tribunal and Appeal Panel hearings were relocated from Makurdi to Abuja, in violation of the law, only strengthens these suspicions
“The relocation, allegedly approved by Justice Ikpambese despite a Federal High Court ruling maintaining the status quo, underscores how brazenly the rules are being bent to fit a hidden agenda,” he noted.
The APC stalwart further stated that the relocation of the Tribunal to the NBA House in Abuja is especially troubling because Section 83 of the Benue State Electoral Laws 2007 provides that every petition shall be tried in open court. The NBA House, Onjeh argued, is not a designated courtroom under the law.
He added that the same law stipulates that the relocation of the tribunal even to another proper venue can only be on the condition that all the parties consent to it. “But Justice Ikpambese went ahead to unilaterally relocate the Tribunals to Abuja, without the consent of any of the respondents,” noted Onjeh.
“Furthermore, the FCT High Court, which lacks territorial jurisdiction over Benue State local government matters, inexplicably granted an order allowing the relocation against an earlier order of the Federal High Court. These developments amount to judicial gymnastics and forum shopping with dangerous implications for justice and democracy in Nigeria.”
This calculated judicial assault, according to Onjeh, if allowed to proceed, will be used to finance a political insurgency against Governor Alia. He said those who win these dubious Tribunal cases will gain access to local government coffers, which they can then deploy to fund efforts aimed at sabotaging Alia’s administration. This, Onjeh stated, is not conjecture; but a pattern being closely followed by keen observers of Benue politics.
Onjeh asserted that the judiciary is being weaponized as part of a calculated three-pronged strategy to unseat Governor Alia. First, through legislative sabotage, via efforts to install a puppet Speaker in the Benue Assembly. Second, through failed attempts by the opposition to halt local government allocations to Benue at the National Assembly. And third, the current judicial assault using compromised tribunals to unlawfully hijack local councils.
He posited that the NJC’s continued silence in the face of these judicial infractions might signal tacit complicity, adding that it was because Justice Ikpambese had obviously shown bias in his handling of the Tribunal that the Benue State House of Assembly earlier recommended his removal from office.
“Section 205(1) (a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides two mechanisms for removing a Chief Judge of a state: upon recommendation of the State House of Assembly to the Governor, and via recommendation from the NJC.
Governor Alia acted within the first constitutional provision, based on a resolution by the Benue State House of Assembly; nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, he still forwarded this recommendation to the NJC,” stated Onjeh.
However, Onjeh said the NJC issued a warning against appointing an acting Chief Judge to replace Justice Ikpambese, threatening disciplinary action. He condemned the move as reminiscent of NJC’s controversial actions in Rivers State, where it was accused of shielding a compromised judicial officer. He said the NJC’s current posture may be interpreted as an institutional endorsement of the Benue Chief Judge’s misconduct.
He emphasised that the NJC’s refusal to investigate the multiple allegations against the Benue Chief Judge — including a publicly recorded vow to “show Governor Alia pepper” — further undermines its credibility.
He called on the NJC to act on the barrage of allegations against Justice Ikpambese, and the recommendation of the Benue State House of Assembly to establish an investigative panel to probe the conduct of the Chief Judge and to penalize any of the judges on the Tribunal whose judgment flouted electoral laws and judicial ethics.
Onjeh reiterated that election tribunals are designed to resolve disputes between political parties, not intra-party conflicts. Aggrieved members of the APC who failed to secure nominations should have pursued their cases as pre-election matters in regular courts, not as post-election petitions.
He drew attention to a suspicious link between the recent surge in insecurity across the state and the current judicial drama. Unlike traditional farmer-herder clashes, he said, the recent attacks appear orchestrated to discredit the Alia administration, instill fear, and justify illegal political takeovers.
Onjeh concluded by urging the NJC to act swiftly to protect the sanctity of Nigeria’s judiciary and democracy. He said the NJC must investigate these violations and affirm that only those who contested elections have the legal standing to challenge them. He added that failure by the NJC to act will only confirm the worst fears of judicial compromise.
“The people of Benue have begun to feel the impact of responsible governance under Governor Alia — prompt salary payments, rural infrastructure, and renewed agricultural prospects. They must not be subjected to this brazen subversion of democracy. The NJC must act now! It must rise to the occasion and reassure Nigerians that the judiciary is still the last hope of the common man—not the last refuge of political desperadoes,” stated Onjeh.
