Justice Heleen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju in a unanimous judgment of the court dismissed the disqualification request on the ground that it lacked merit and legal backing.

Herman Lorwase Hembe has been affirmed as the lawful governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Benue State for the coming March 18 gubernatorial poll by the Supreme Court on Thursday in Abuja.

The apex court dismissed an appeal brought before it by Benjamin Lorlumum and one other, seeking the disqualification of the respondent from the governorship race on various grounds.

Justice Heleen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju in a unanimous judgment of the court dismissed the disqualification request on the ground that it lacked merit and legal backing.

A governorship aspirant of the party, Benjamin Iorlumum and one other person had brought the appeal marked SC/CV/344/2023 against Hembe, Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The grouse of the two appellants was that the LP governorship candidate was still a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the time he contested and won the gubernatorial primary election of the Labour Party, LP.

The appellants specifically accused Hembe of double participation in primary elections organized by the APC and Labour Party on the same date and time and also for allegedly parading dual membership of both APC and LP.

They had asked a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal to invoke relevant laws to nullify the emergence of Hembe as a governorship candidate on the strength of their allegations.

Both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had dismissed the suit upon their findings of facts that the governorship candidate resigned from the APC before crossing over to LP and winning the gubernatorial primary election.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the two courts, Lorlumum moved to the Supreme Court insisting that the two lower courts did not consider all the issues he raised against Hembe, especially with regard to membership of two political parties at the same time.

He had asked the apex court to set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on February 10, 2023, and declare him the sole candidate that participated in the Labour Party’s gubernatorial primary election held on June 9, 2022.