BREAKING: Muftwang Lists 8 Reasons Why Supreme Court Should Validate His Election as Plateau Gov
- Enumerating eight reasons, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, governor of Plateau state, has punctured the verdict of the Appeal Court which sacked him in 2023
- Mutfwang insisted that the appellate court erred in several of its pronouncements in November 2023
- Mutfwang, through his lawyers, therefore asked the Supreme Court to cancel the Appeal Court's judgement and pronounce him the winner of the 2023 Plateau state governorship election
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 6-year-experience covering politics and elections in Nigeria
Jos, Plateau state - Caleb Mutfwang, governor of Plateau, has listed eight reasons why the Supreme Court should validate his election as the governor of the state.
As reported by The Punch on Friday, January 5, Muftwang asked the Supreme Court of Nigeria to declare him as the validly elected governor of Plateau state.
Source: Facebook
Appeal Court unfair to me, Gov Mutfwang
His request comes ahead of the apex court’s hearing of the disputed gubernatorial poll.
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The governor said the Appeal Court was unfair to him and should not have sacked him in November 2023, This Day newspaper also noted. He described the November 19, 2023 judgement which asked him to vacate office as "fatally flawed".
Mutfwang made the submission in his brief at the Supreme Court by an eight-man team of senior advocates of Nigeria (SANs) led by Kanu Agabi.
The governor’s counsel’s brief partly reads:
“The law is settled that wherever there is a wrong, there must be a remedy. This principle of law which is of considerable antiquity is expressed in the Latin maxim, ubi jus, ibi remedium.
“We therefore most respectfully urge the honourable court to allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the lower court and thereupon affirm the appellant as the duly elected governor of Plateau state.”
Full list of Mutfwang's eight arguements:
- Nomination is a pre-election matter.
- Disobedience of court order is not one of the grounds for maintaining election petition let alone disqualifying the appellant from contesting the election.
- State congress (of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) was conducted in Plateau state on September 25, 2021, and there are "overwhelming" oral and documentary evidences.
- Appeal Court "clearly in the wrong" to have heavily relied on evidence of PW16.
- First and second respondents woefully failed to discharge the requisite burden of proof on them.
- First and second respondents are not entitled to the reliefs sought in their petition.
- Appeal Court erred to have concluded that the tribunal was wrong in striking out "the offensive paragraphs" of the appellant’s reply.
- Appeal Court denied a fair hearing to the appellant by dismissing his notice of preliminary objection
Tinubu didn't meet Ariwoola over Plateau election
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Plateau state government dismissed the insinuation that Governor Mutfwang boasted of securing his seat after meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola.
The Plateau government said no meeting transpired between Tinubu, Ariwoola, and the governor who was sacked by the Appeal Court.
It'd be hard for PDP, Muftwang to triumph - Analyst
Legit.ng also reported that a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Williams Dakwom, outlined the key factor that could work against the Plateau state chapter of the PDP in the ongoing legal battle at the Supreme Court.
In an interview with Legit.ng on Saturday, December 16, via telephone, Dakwom emphasised that the court order for PDP to conduct congresses, which they allegedly flouted, could impact the final judgement at the apex court.
Ex-Plateau gov predicts winner at Supreme Court
Meanwhile, a former governor of Plateau state, Fidelis Tapgun, has predicted the possible outcome of the Supreme Court judgement in Mutfwang's case.
Tapgun revealed that it would be impossible for his party, the PDP, to get a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court.
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Source: Legit.ng
