BENUE HIGH COURT CANCELS EXECUTIVE ORDER ISSUED BY GOV ALIA ON PUBLIC GATHERING
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A high court in Benue State, located in Makurdi, has ruled that the executive order issued by Governor Hyacinth Alia in February 2024 is unconstitutional and breaks the basic rights of the people in the state.
The Executive Order said that people or groups who want to hold rallies, wakes, or other public events after 10 p.m. need to get a permit from the Department of Public Order at the Benue State Ministry of Justice and Public Order.
The court ruling was given by Justice Theresa Igoche in case number MHC/234/2024. This case was started by the plaintiffs, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, who was the former State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State, and Amb. Adebayo Ogorry, the Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET). They were challenging the Benue State Government and other named defendants.
In June 2024, the plaintiffs went to court to question the legality of an Executive Order issued by Governor Alia.
They claimed that the order put unfair limits on things like rallies, wakes, and other public events throughout the state.
The plaintiffs said the Executive Order broke Sections 40, 41, and 45(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as parts of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
These laws protect people‘s rights to associate, move around, and gather peacefully.
They also said that before the case was filed, the Executive Order had already been used to shut down businesses without reason, arrest people on false charges, and stop public events, including religious services.
The court ruled that the affected individuals and groups were those perceived as critical of or opposing the state government, which raised concerns about the abuse of executive power.
In her ruling, Justice Theresa Igoche dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the Benue State Government and the Attorney-General of the state, calling them baseless and based solely on procedural technicalities.
The court held that the Public Order Act, which formed the basis of the Executive Order, had previously been struck down by the Supreme Court, making the Executive Order legally unsustainable and unjustified.
Justice Igoche consequently granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, issuing a perpetual injunction restraining the Benue State Government, its agents and privies from enforcing the Executive Order signed on February 28, 2024.
Reacting to the judgement, the plaintiffs said the suit was filed to halt what they described as “executive recklessness capable of sliding the state into dictatorship if left unchecked.” They added that the action was taken in the interest of protecting constitutional democracy in Benue State.
They hailed the ruling as a victory for the rule of law, stating that it reaffirmed the power of the judiciary to protect citizens’ rights and strengthened public confidence in constitutional democracy.
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