Benue Governor And Council Chairmen In Battle

<h4>Benue Governor And Council Chairmen In Battle<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>By Austin Atondu&comma; Makurdi<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that a Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi &comma;Wednesday dismissed the Motion on Notice&comma; filed by the Governor of Benue state&comma; Hyacinth Alia seeking the court to set aside the judgment obtained by the 23 local government chairmen at the National Industrial Court&comma; Makurdi Division&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Chief Judge of Benue State&comma; Justice Maurice Ikpambese&comma; dismissed the application for judicial review for lacking in merit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Makurdi Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria&comma; NICN&comma; had in a judgment delivered by Justice I&period; A&period; Essien&comma; restrained the Governor of Benue State&comma; Benue State Government&comma; Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly&comma; and three others from dissolving or suspending the elected council Chairmen without due process before the expiration of their tenure in office on June 29&comma; 2024&comma; amongst other reliefs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In reaction to the judgment&comma; the governor of Benue state&comma; Benue State government&comma; Speaker of the State House of Assembly&comma; and three others filed a motion seeking a judicial review of the judgment of the National Industrial Court&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ruling on the application&comma; Justice Ikpambese held that a court can only sit over the judgment of a court of coordinate jurisdiction if the judgment is a nullity or the judgment was obtained by fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He ruled that the court is incompetent to review the judgment of a brother-court especially as the issue of jurisdiction was dealt with in the said judgment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Justice Ikpambese further held that there was no basis for the applicants to approach the court for a judicial review&comma; and added that what the applicants ought to do is to appeal the judgment of the National Industrial Court&period;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Justice Ikpambese accordingly dismissed the application for lack of merit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Similarly&comma; the court also dismissed the originating summons by the chairmen against the Benue State Governor and five others challenging their suspension&comma; on the grounds that the same reliefs sought in the suit before the court were granted by the National Industrial Court&comma; which is a court of coordinate jurisdiction&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reacting to the development&comma; the chairman of Kwande of Local Government&comma; Orjiir Gbande&comma; described the judgment as sound&comma; saying it is also a victory for democracy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;