Due to mounting security concerns at the tribunal locations, attorneys for the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the current local government election tribunals in Benue have written to the chairman of the panels.
In three different letters to the tribunal chairpersons, written by Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani (SAN), and Sunday Ameh (SAN) representing Zone A, B, and C senatorial districts, the attorneys voiced their concerns. The letters were made accessible to Makurdi media.
Makurdi was where all of the LG tribunals were seated.
In their letters titled “Re: Notice of Tribunal Sitting on Monday 24th February 2025, and Our Security Concerns”, the lawyers urged the court not to sit because of the security concerns.
Mr Burkaa, who is representing the Zone B senatorial district in his letter, said he and his team were representing 294 respondents in all the pending 104 petitions before the tribunal in the zone.
He said that they were informed via the “Local Government Petition Tribunal Makurdi” WhatsApp group on the tribunal’s plan to convene on February 24 through Emmanuel Awuhe, the tribunal secretary.
According to Mr. Burkaa, the attorneys were informed that the tribunal would hear the case on Monday, February 24, instead of February 21, as originally planned.
“We hereby, with regard to the hearing notice against Monday, state our reservation against the said sitting of the tribunal on the following grounds:
“We have noted the brewing tense security situation around the court premises and within the state in the past few days.
“The state of affairs has created a serious security concern for us, as we fear for the safety of our team of lawyers and our clients should they attend the sitting on the said date.
“Consequent upon the above, we hereby respectfully request that the tribunal sitting be adjourned to a further and tentative date when adequate security measures would have been put in place to guarantee our collective security.
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“We will be delighted if our request is granted with immediate and adequate consideration,” he said.
Also, Mr Ndarani, representing respondents in the 93 petitions pending before the Zone A senatorial district tribunal, aligned completely with Mr Burkaa.
Mr Ameh, counsel for Zone C respondents in the pending petitions at the tribunal, said the issue of security raised in his letter was a serious one.
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