Court of Appeal strikes out Benue APC leadership case

The Court of Appeal, sitting in Makurdi on Wednesday, struck out the Notice of Appeal filed by the Benue State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Benjamin Omale, following developments that rendered the case unnecessary for judicial determination.

The appeal, marked CA/MKD/1199/2024, was initially filed by Dr Omale challenging a decision of the lower court which had earlier given judgment in favour of Mr Augustine Agada as State Chairman of the APC in Benue State.

However, while the appeal was still pending before the appellate court, a significant development altered the political and legal landscape of the dispute.

The tenure of Mr Agada expired, leading to the conduct of a new State Congress of the APC in Benue State, which produced Dr Omale as the substantive State Chairman.

Following this development, Dr Omale formally applied to withdraw the appeal on the grounds that the subject matter had been overtaken by events and no longer presented a live controversy requiring adjudication.

In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal granted the application and struck out the appeal, holding that there was no longer a live issue for determination.

The court also ordered that each party should bear its own costs.

The ruling effectively brought an end to the appellate proceedings arising from the earlier leadership dispute within the Benue APC.

Reacting to the development, a senior legal practitioner and chieftain of the APC in Benue State, Mr Terfa Jirgba, described the outcome as a logical conclusion of an academic exercise, noting that the expiration of Mr Agada’s tenure had rendered further litigation unnecessary.

According to him, the judiciary ought not to be burdened with matters that have already been overtaken by events, adding that the court acted within its powers in striking out the appeal.

It would be recalled that the internal crisis stemmed from leadership disputes that led to legal battles over the legitimacy of the state executive committee.