Benue APC Crisis Deepens as Jirgba Alleges Gross Miscarriage of Justice
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jirgba Terfa Jirgba, has raised concerns over a list allegedly forwarded to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) as the authentic list of APC candidates, describing it as suspicious and likely unauthentic.
In a statement issued following the party’s primaries, Jirgba said he would not jump to conclusions on whether the list was genuine or fake but noted that it would be deeply troubling if such a document truly originated from the APC National Secretariat.
“At this point, I will not make any assumptions about whether the list is genuine or fake. However, it would be most unfortunate if such a list truly originated from the APC National Secretariat,” he said.
According to him, based on the information available to him, he strongly believes the list is not authentic.
Jirgba disclosed that he is familiar with most of the petitions submitted to the Appeal Panel and personally authored some of them, adding that Hon. Dave Iorhemba could attest to that fact.
He explained that the majority of the petitions clearly stated that elections did not hold in Benue State and urged the National Working Committee to constitute an independent body to conduct fresh primaries.
“The petitions largely maintained that elections did not hold in Benue State and requested the NWC to set up an independent body to conduct fresh primaries,” he stated.
He argued that it would be illogical for the Appeal Panel to disregard the reliefs sought in those petitions, overturn the outcome of the primaries, and hand party tickets to individuals who, according to him, were not part of the electoral process.
Jirgba further stressed that if any complaint had been filed against him, the Appeal Panel should have invited him to respond in line with the principles of fair hearing.
He described it as a miscarriage of justice for the panel to declare certain persons victorious merely because they lodged complaints without giving affected parties an opportunity to defend themselves.
“It would amount to a gross miscarriage of justice for the panel to hand over victory to some individuals simply because they submitted complaints, without allowing affected parties to be heard,” he said.
Jirgba maintained that the APC, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and all institutions involved in the process are creations of the law and must operate strictly within legal boundaries.
He added that if the list eventually proves to be authentic, affected candidates should seek legal redress and allow the courts to determine the matter.
“For these and many other reasons, I remain convinced that the list is fake. In the coming days, I will provide detailed reasons for my position,” he added.
