Tarzoor drags Ortom to tribunal over poll

Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Benue State, Prince Terhemen Tarzoor, yesterday, dragged governor-elect, Dr. Samuel Ortom, before the Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the state capital, on three grounds.

Ortom of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated Tarzoor of the PDP in the recently conducted general elections.

The petition came at a time when Governor Gabriel Suswam had assured that neither the PDP nor Tarzoor would take any legal action on the outcome of the April 11 gubernatorial election.

Suswam said that the decision not to go to court would enable the new administration settle down to work for the progress of the state, stating how the opposition distracted his government with litigations for four years.

But Tarzoor’s laŵyer, Barr. Titus Hyundu, while filing his petition against the governorelect in Makurdi, argued that the national secretariat of the PDP has permitted any aggrieved candidate to go to court.

The suit, according to Hyundu, was based on the fact that Ortom was not qualified to contest the election because he was not validly nominated by the APC and all his votes scored during the elections should be rendered invalid and transferred to Tarzoor as the duly contestant of the gubernatorial poll.

The suit also prayed that the certificate of return handed to Ortom by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be withdrawn and given to Tarzoor as winner of the election in line with Section171 of the nation’s constitution.