The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Samuel Ortom as Governor of Benue State. It also upheld the election of Ahmadu Fintri of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), as the validly elected governor of Adamawa State.
The seven man panel of justices led by Justice Bode Rhodes Vivour, dismissed the appeal of Mr Emmanuel Jime of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as lacking in merit.
In Adamawa, the justices held that the APC and its candidate, Jibrilla Bindow, failed to prove their allegation that Fintri emerged through over-voting.
Justice Dattijo Mohammed, who read the lead judgment in the appeal in relation to the Adamawa case, held that the appellants failed to prove their case.
Meanwhile, former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has congratulated the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom over the validation of his victory by the nation’s apex court in Abuja.
Reacting to the ruling by the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN), Senator Mark noted that the affirmation is a validation of the mandate given to Ortom by the people of Benue State.
He told Ortom: “the validation of your mandate by SCN is an affirmation of the trust reposed in you by the people of Benue State to serve them; for their development, welfare and security which must not be taken for granted”.
In addition, he urged the governor to be magnanimous in victory by extending hands of fellowship to his major opponent Emmanuel Jime and his supporters in the task of working for the good of Benue people.
To Jime, Senator Mark reminded him that the battle for the plum position of governor of Benue State has been fought and won and implored him to join Ortom in the voyage to develop the State.
According to Mark, “I have always maintained that everybody cannot be governor at the same time because there is only one seat but whichever side of the coin one finds himself, he must remember that the interest, welfare and security of Benue and Nigerian people must be paramount”.
He told the governor to be a father to all irrespective of party affiliation saying, “Your good works, security, peace and unity of the State would be the needed legacies”.
Senator Mark has also sent a message of congratulations to the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed, his Taraba State counterpart Darius Ishaku, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State over their victories at the apex court.
He reminded them of the need to make a difference in the lives of their citizens by working assiduously for the development of their States reiterating “you must continue to do only those things that will bring peace, unity and progress to the nation”.