By Bridget Ikyado Tikyaa

It took former Governor Samuel Ortom and his cohorts 13 months of failed attempts to stop the probe of his eight years as Governor of Benue State by Governor Hyacinth Alia.

Ortom’s attempts to use the judiciary to stop the administration of Alia to get him to account to the people of the state has run from June 2023 to July 2024, and all his efforts before the courts failed woefully as he could not secure the relief he and other members of the opposition had sought. A total of eight cases were filed in various courts against the governor and his government within 13 months, and all ended up in defeat.

Governor Alia had on assuming office sought to get the previous administration and some of its principal actors, including the ex-governor to come clean and explain what they did with the resources that accrued to their government during their tenure. That was when the panic mode was activated, and Ortom and others thought that the judiciary would give them cover. They were wrong.

The first suit was instituted on 14th June, 2023, by Ortom and his Deputy, Benson Abounu  challenging the propriety of the Assets Recovery Committee set up by the Benue State Government, on the ground that the vehicles intended to be recovered by the Committee, belonged to the Plaintiffs.

The Benue State Government in response to the suit, filed a defence as well as a preliminary objection to the competence of the suit, which the Court in its ruling delivered on the 18th of October, 2023, upheld the State Government’s objection and struck out the suit for being premature and speculative.

In another suit filed by Ortom and New London Line Ltd, sought to stop the recovery of 32 government vehicles from the automobile workshop of the Plaintiffs at New Bridge Road, Makurdi.

The Plaintiffs had in the originating process before the Court claimed that the 32 vehicles belonged to Chief Samuel Ortom and other third parties who had brought them to the workshop for repairs. However, when the government  filed a defence and preliminary objection, the Plaintiffs realized the inherent and incurable defects in their case, and quietly abandoned the matter. Consequently, the Court struck out the case.

Having tasted defeat, Chief Emmanuel Mfe Viashima, instituted a fundamental human rights suit against the Commissionerof Police and four others on the issue of the 32 vehicles.

This suit was filed by the Applicant on 21/07/2023. His contention  was that on 11/07/2023, the Assets Recovery Committee  invaded the New London Line Workshop at New Bridge Road, Makurdi, and unlawfully carted away 32 cars belonging to the him and other persons. He averred that the committee was also at his house on 17/07/2023 and took away 2 vehicles belonging to him.

Upon service of the originating process, the State Government filed a preliminary objection to the competence of the suit, and the applicant, having realised the vanity of his case, withdrew the suit on 30/10/2023 and same was struck out by the Court.

Chief

Emmanuel Mfe Viashima, again returned to Court on 06/11/2023 challenging the action of the Assets Recovery Committee with regards to the vehicles. This time, he narrowed his claim to only 7 vehicles which he claimed to be his personal cars and contended that the seizure of the vehicles violated his fundamental right to acquire and own properties as provided under Section 43 and 44 of the Constitution.

The government, again, traversed the claim of the Applicant and challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the suit, abinitio.

Though the Court in its judgment delivered on 19/04/2024, overruled the Government’s objection to jurisdiction, it agreed that Chief

Emmanuel Mfe Viashima had failed woefully to prove his case to be entitled to the reliefs sought, and the matter was according dismissed for want of merit.

Not done yet, the pool of opposition to governor Alia’s administration, went back to court in another desperate move on     31/05/2024.

Ortom wanted the court to prohibit, disband and restrain the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Benue State Government to investigate the finances and expenditures of Benue State from 2015 – 2023. He asked the court to bar the committee from sitting and functioning in any capacity, whatsoever.

Not deterred, the Benue State Government and other Respondents in the matter, filed objections to the competence of the suit on the ground that it  was filed more than 3 months after the setting up of the Commission of Inquiry, and thus the suit violated Section 2(a) of the Public Officers Protection Law of Benue State, which stipulates that actions against public officers must be filed within 3 months from the date of accrual of cause of action.

Having realised the folly of his applicantion, Ortom sought to play smart by asking the court to circumvent the law in an application asking it to extend the time within which to file the suit. This in itself was a clear agreement with the government’s  contention that the suit was filed out of time. Thus, in a well-considered ruling delivered on 30/07/2024, the presiding Judge, Justice T. T. Asua, held that the 3 months’ period provided under Section 2(a) of the Public Officers Protection Law of Benue State for the filing of actions against public officers, could not be extended. His Lordship thus agreed with the Respondents that the suit was statute barred and consequently dismissed it, leaving Ortom to lick his wounds.

The sixth suit was filed on the 26th of June, 2023 by the then suspended 23 Local Government Chairmen in Benue State, all of them members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the governor and six others.

They wanted  the court to stop their suspension after the Benue State House of Assembly investigated  and found them involved in financial misappropriation.

The 23 Local Government Chairmen had prayed the Court to nullify the resolution of the State House of Assembly recommending their suspension from office and their consequent suspension by the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, under the directive of the Benue State Governor. That too, failed after the government

challenged the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain it.

In its judgment delivered on 26th July, 2023, Justice Per M. A. Ikpambese, upheld the objection of the Benue State Government and held that the Plaintiffs, having earlier filed a suit before the National Industrial Court Makurdi, on the same subject matter, were estopped from re-ligating on the same issue, and consequently dismissed the suit for gross abuse of judicial process.

A related suit instituted by the suspended councillors of the 23 local government areas in the state, also suffered defeat in court.

The suit was filed under the auspices of Benue State Councilors Forum, seeking the enforcement of their fundamental right to fair hearing. They claimed that the Benue State House of Assembly violated their right to fair hearing by recommending their suspension from office without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves.

The government aptly responded,    challenged the competence of the Court to entertain the subject matter of the suit under fundamental right proceedings.

Upon being served with the State Government’s processes, the Applicants developed cold feet and eventually abandoned the suit. Thus, in its ruling, the court struck out the case on 13/05/2024 for want of diligent prosecution.

In spite of the bloody nose they have been getting, Ortom and his group continued in their desparation to stop their investigation, and subvert governor Alia in his determination to enthrone transparency and accountability in the managemeng of public finances in Benue State.

After the dismissal of their earlier suit, the 23 suspended Local Government Chairmen again approached the Benue State High Court, complaining about their suspension from office, and sought for reinstatement.

The government, however, challenged the competence of the suit, and the suspended council chairmen hurriedly retreated with their tails tucked behind them having realised futility hopelessness of their case. They withdrew the suit which was accordingly struck out by High Court 6, Makurdi, on 23/01/2024.

After a year of buying time, Ortom and his bunch will now have to answer to the Benue people who are awaiting for explanation of what really happened to their resources during the eight years Ortom held sway as governor. Years in which the government left civil servants and pensioners in penury, locals displaced by conflicts and a state grounded to its needs by decayed infrastructure and debt.

Bridget Ikyado Tikyaa Is the PSA to the Governor on Media Publicity and Communications Strategy