O n Rugbo Bo o! Judiciary Comes Under The Spotlight As Plateau Speaker Says 16 APC Lawmakers ‘ll Not Be Recognized

Dramatic scenes have begun to get enacted in  Plateau  state  following the judgment delivered by the  Supreme Court on  Friday.

Recall that the Supreme Court had on Friday upheld Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s victory in the gubernatorial election held in the state on March 18, 2023.

It was  however a case of surviving ‘removal attempt’   by a hair’s breadth as the aftereffect of the intraparty conflict in the state PDP ahead of the 2023 General Election had almost ‘consumed’ the governor.

The governor narrowly survived an attempt to have him removed  from office, but others, including members of the state parliament were not that lucky- the Court of Appeal had the ‘final say’ with respect to their election cases.

While the Plateau state Election Petition Tribunal had upheld Caleb’s victory, the Court of Appeal had however in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel annulled his victory and ruled that he was not sponsored by his party, the PDP.

The  Appeal Court ruled that the appeal filed by the APC guber candidate,  Nentawe Goshwe  was meritorious given that  the issue of qualification is both a pre and post-election matter under Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Sections 80 and 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The justices submitted that PDP’s failure to comply with the order of the Plateau state High Court , Jos directing it to conduct valid ward, local government and state congresses before nominating its candidates for positions ahead of the 2023 General Election was a breach of the law.

The Appeal  Court set aside the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal describing it as ‘highly inconsistent and breach of fair hearing by relying on expunged witnesses’ statements to refuse Goshwe’s appeal’.

 Recall that the intraparty conflict  in the state PDP had also  made the former Minister of Labour, Mr Simon Lalong get declared by the Appeal Court as the real winner of the  Plateau South Senate  election while APC also  took control of the Plateau state House of Assembly in November last year  sequel to the decision of  the Court of Appeal , Abuja  to  sack 11 PDP lawmakers in one fell swoop.

Five PDP lawmakers had earlier  gotten sacked .

The Supreme Court in the ruling delivered by  a five-member panel headed by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Friday however chose to save Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s neck submitting that issues that have to do with the primary election that produced him was outside the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.

The apex court  in upholding his victory , noted that the validity of nomination and sponsorship is not a valid ground to annul an election victory adding that the Court of Appeal lacks jurisdiction to entertain such a matter.

The apex court added that the  issue of sponsorship and nomination had ended long ago while noting that the petitioners,  who are not PDP members,   had  no locus to challenge the party’s primary election.

Justice Agim also noted that the issue of primary election is an internal matter of political parties which both the Tribunal and  the Court of Appeal lack jurisdiction to entertain.

 ‘The whole case is a clear abuse of court process’ Justice  Agim submitted.

The  16 APC candidates, who were runners-up  in the House of Assembly  elections held last year, and had gotten  declared as duly elected currently have their fate hanging  in the balance.

 Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the Speaker of the state house of assembly, Gabriel Dewan, has said he will only recognize eight people as members of the parliament.

Dewan, a YPP member, had emerged as  Speaker  following the Court of Appeal ruling that sacked 16 PDP lawmakers.

The Appeal Court had ruled  that the PDP had no structure and could not  have nominated  them as candidates .

The court had also asked the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to withdraw their certificates of return and issue fresh ones to the APC candidates.

The Speaker  has submitted that  he will not recognize the APC members who have  benefitted from the judgment

Dewan  said the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, which is the nation’s apex court,   has overruled the earlier position of the lower court.

‘As it stands now only eight people are recognized as members in the house of assembly’ he said.

Dewan also  noted  that as  the Speaker, he is a leader of all irrespective of the political parties they belong to-Team@orientactualmags.com
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