Plateau Crisis: Should Supreme Court Reverse Sack of 16 PDP Lawmakers? APC Chieftain Speaks
- APC chieftain Williams Dakwom has reacted to the Supreme Court's recent judgment on Plateau election dispute
- Dakwom maintained that the fate of the sacked PDP lawmakers in the state remained uncertain, urging them to wait for a clear interpretation of the Court of Appeal's judgement at the Supreme Court
- The APC chief urged the Plateau state House of Assembly speaker to swear in the 16 APC lawmakers declared valid by the court, noting that the rule of law has to be obeyed
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Plateau state, Jos - Williams Dakwom, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Plateau state chapter, has reacted to the crisis rocking the Plateau state House of Assembly, especially the sacking of 16 lawmakers.
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Speaking exclusively with Legit.ng, Dakwom urged the apex court to do the right thing and allow peace to reign in the state.
Why 16 APC lawmakers should be sworn in
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng on Sunday, January 28, via telephone, Dakwom said the sacked lawmakers should not take matters into their own hands but rather apply legal means to address the issue.
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Meanwhile, the sacked PDP lawmakers are requesting the higher court to affirm their election just like it affirmed Governor Mutfwang as the duly elected governor of the state.
Dakwom, however, urged the Plateau Assembly speaker to respect the judgement of the appeal court and swear in the APC lawmakers whose elections were upheld by the lower court.
He stated thus:
"In the case of Plateau state lawmakers, the 16 APC lawmakers remain the duly valid elected members of the Plateau state house of Assembly for now. Until there is any review of such an issue, clear interpretation of the court of appeals ruling that will review or reverse such judgement if at all there is any?
"For now, the speaker should have sworn - in the 16 APC lawmakers as declared validly elected by the court. The court refused to grant the prayers of the PDP and the sacked lawmakers for asking the speaker and the House of Assembly not to recognize the certificates of return issued to the 16 APC lawmakers by INEC.
"To me, they should not misinterpret the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement. It's good they complied with the outcome of the Appeal court judgement for now. Because what they are thinking will not happen even the 16 APC will not go against the law. So the right thing needs to be done by accepting the outcome of the judgement pending if there is any in due course."
Recall that the Supreme Court settled the disputes of the governorship elections in eight states on Friday, January 12.
This was after the Court of Appeal had, in November 2023, sacked 16 members of the Plateau state House of Assembly, five members of the House of Representatives, and two senators, all of whom vied for the offices on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over a pre-election matter.
While the apex court was delivering its judgment, it dived into the Plateau state election dispute, pointing out the state's major electoral injustice by the Court of Appeal's decisions on the cases arising from the 2023 general elections.
The appeal court had ordered the sack of Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau and 23 federal and state legislators in the state.
On Muftwang's appeal, the Supreme Court reversed his sack and affirmed him as the governor of Plateau state.
Justice Emmanuel Agim held that the issue of primary is an internal matter of political parties, which both the tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction. However, the fate of the embattled lawmakers remains hanging.
Who are the lawmakers sacked by appeal court?
Like the governor, the affected lawmakers are members of the Peoples Democratic Party.
They are two of the three senators in the Nigerian Senate, five of the eight House of Representatives members from the state, and 16 of the 25 members of the state House of Assembly.
The embattled lawmakers had won their seats on the PDP ticket but had their victories overturned in the 2023 decisions of the Court of Appeal.
The appellate court removed the 16 members of the PDP for lack of structure, while the APC and Labour Party were beneficiaries of the apex court judgement.
Though Certificates of Return have been issued to the APC and Labour Party members per the directives of the judgement, they are yet to be inaugurated since the House has been on recess since December 2023.
PDP lawmakers' sack: Plateau Gov visits Tinubu
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau state weighed in on the sacking of some lawmakers in the state by the Court of Appeal.
Speaking on Friday, January 19, in Abuja, Mutfwang disclosed that his state would be seeking both legal and political ways of resolving the crisis that has led to the sack of the lawmakers from the state.
Governor Mutfwang, during a visit to the Aso Villa in Abuja, said all possible options were being considered.
Sacked PDP Plateau lawmakers make move
Legit.ng also reported that 16 sacked PDP Plateau lawmakers declared their intention to resume plenary on Tuesday, January 23.
It was learnt that the resumption is set to take place at the temporary chamber in the old Government House in Jos, Plateau state.
The sacked lawmakers are relying on the Supreme Court judgment that overturned the lower court's decision and reinstated Governor Caleb Mutfwang as the duly elected governor of the state.
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Source: Legit.ng
