Court of Appeal Reinstates Four State Constituencies in Benue, Assembly Grows from 33 to 37 Members

In a landmark ruling delivered today, 5th December 2025, the Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi has ordered the immediate reinstatement of four state constituencies earlier scrapped by the National Assembly’s 2006 delimitation exercise.

The affected constituencies are Gbokoo III (Central), Ukum II (Afia), Konshisha III (Shangev-Tiev), and Makurdi III (South-East). With this judgment, the Benue State House of Assembly officially expands from 33 to 37 members.

The appeal, prosecuted by Terna Yaji Esq., overturned the long-standing anomaly that had denied these areas their constitutional representation for nearly two decades. Many political observers have hailed the decision as a restoration of justice and a victory for constitutional democracy in the state.

Yet the celebration appears muted in some quarters. According to legal practitioner and public affairs commentator, Barr. Tysin Pusa, the subdued reaction stems from the fact that certain influential political figures who had quietly worked to frustrate the return of these constituencies were expressly mentioned and unfavourably mentioned in the judgment.

To put the development in proper perspective, Barr. Pusa referred to Sections 90 and 91 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandate that every state House of Assembly must have membership of three or four times the number of seats the state holds in the House of Representatives, with a statutory range of 24–40 members.

Benue currently has 11 federal constituencies, meaning the state is constitutionally entitled to between 33 and 44 state lawmakers. Even with today’s addition of four seats, bringing the total to 37, Benue remains three constituencies short of the maximum constitutional compliance.

While stakeholders applaud the Court of Appeal for correcting a historic wrong, the consensus is clear: the battle for full and equitable representation in Benue is not yet over. Pressure is already mounting on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Assembly to conduct fresh delimitation exercises that will finally bring the state to the upper limit of 40 state constituencies as envisaged by the Constitution.

For now, the people of the four reinstated constituencies can celebrate the return of their voices to the Benue State House of Assembly, but the broader conversation about complete constitutional compliance has only just begun.