Apolitical stalemate is brewing in State following threats yesterday by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) federal and state lawmakers who were recently sacked by the Court of Appeal to launch a fight for the restoration of their mandates.
Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Gabriel Dewan, threatened to derecognize the All Progressive Congress (APC) legislators who were declared winners by the appeal court.
The sacked lawmakers and Speaker Dewan drew inspiration from Friday’s judgement of the Supreme Court which nullified Governor Caleb Muftwang’s sack by the appeal court.
But some senior lawyers said nothing will change the sack of the PDP legislators.
The Court of Appeal had ruled on November 19,2023 that the failure of the PDP to comply with the order of the Plateau State High Court in Jos directing it to conduct valid ward, local governments and state congresses before nominating its candidates for the various elective posts was a breach of the law.
The earlier sack of two PDP senators, three House of Representatives members and 11 members of the State Assembly by the Court of Appeal was based on the same premise.
However, the apex court while ruling on Muftwang’s appeal on Friday, declared that the election tribunal had no jurisdiction to determine the validity of the primary election conducted by the PDP and the nomination of Muftwang as its candidate because they were issues internal to the party, which APC and its candidate Nentawe Yilwatda could not question.
The court said: “We have held consistently in a plethora of decisions overtime that the validity of primary election and nomination of a candidate by his party is not a valid ground for an election case.
“Once a person’s name is submitted by his party to INEC as its candidate, he is thereby sponsored by the party and therefore satisfies the requirement of sponsorship by a party under Section 177(c) of the Constitution as he is not an independent candidate.”
It held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have questioned Muftwang’s nomination for whatever reason and that not only was it too late for anyone to query the primary of the PDP and Muftwang’s nomination, being pre-election issues, the petitioners at the tribunal, the APC and its candidate, lacked the locus standi to raise such issues, not being members of the PDP.
Under the Electoral Act, petitions arising from election into state and federal legislatures cannot proceed beyond the Court of Appeal.
Mr. Beni Lar, who lost his Langtang North/Langtang South seat in the House of Representatives told newsmen yesterday that since their matter is a novel one, they would do everything possible to reclaim their mandates.
“We don’t know what the National Judicial Council (NJC) will say yet because this kind of thing has never happened before. There is no precedence to our case, but there is no harm in trial,” Lar said.
He added: “The Supreme Court verdict is the first of its kind in Nigeria and has restored hope, restored confidence in the judiciary. They have upheld the rule of law.
“The Appeal Court robbed us of our victory. It’s a learning experience. The Appeal Court erroneously robbed us of the people’s mandate.
“It’s a national disaster for an arm of the judiciary to rob 24 lawmakers of their mandates. It is gross abuse of power to do so. It should have never happened at all.
“It means 24 constituencies have been handed over to illegal occupants.”
Mr. Joe Philip Gwom, deprived of his Barkin Ladi seat in the state assembly said: “I am a victim of the Court of Appeal judgement. But as far as I am concerned, I am going back to the House of Assembly, because the pronouncement of the Supreme Court supercedes that of Court of Appeal.
“Not only me but all of us from the state assembly and national assembly. We are going back to our seats because the Supreme Court judgement supercedes that of the Appeal Court. That was injustice meted to us by the Court of Appeal.
“I believe that in the next few days you will see action. I don’t need to talk too much.
“All I know is that the Supreme Court said APC should not have taken PDP to court over an issue that was internal affairs of PDP. It then means that what the Court of Appeal did was an illegality against PDP.
“We are going back to take our seats as law makers based on the mandate given to us by our constituencies.”
Mr. Bala N Fwanje who had won election in Mangu South into the state assembly said: “To God be the glory, the Supreme Court has given us victory. Our victory has been restored.
“The judgement means that my seat is not lost. The apex court has confirmed to us that the Court of Appeal was not supposed to entertain the case.It then means there was no case against us at all.
“In other words, what the Court of Appeal did was to defend an interest, not the law. But now the apex court has come out with the true position of the law. It means our case has to be reviewed and we are coming back strongly to claim our mandate
“Plateau is going to set a precedent for the growth of democracy in this case. That illegality done to us by the Court of Appeal cannot stand because there will be another election in 2027.
“Our cases and that of the governor are similar, hence our own has to be reviewed accordingly because that of the governor has been decided. So I can assure you the NJC will definitely review our cases to correct the injustice.”
Asked to react on the implication of the Supreme Court judgement, Speaker Dewan said the state assembly has only eight lawmakers that he recognizes because, in his view, the Friday judgement overturned the position of the appeal court.
“As it stands now, only eight lawmakers are recognized as members of the state assembly,” he said,stressing that the 16 lawmakers who were declared winners by the Court of Appeal would not be recognised for now pending the interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement.
But the APC insisted that the Supreme Court judgement has not changed the status of its members in the national and state assemblies.
Contacted yesterday, spokesman of the party in the state, Mr.Sylvanus Namang said “our members are comfortable as they remain authentic members (of the National Assembly and the State Assembly).”
He said since the Court of Appeal is the final arbiter on legislative litigation, the matter cannot proceed beyond that level.
The post Supreme Court Aftermath: Ousted Plateau Lawmakers Vow To Fight For Mandates After Controversial Court Of Appeal Rulings appeared first on Barristers.NG.
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