In this report, ISAAC SHOBAYO analyses the ongoing legislative tussle in Plateau State triggered by the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, which upheld the state governor’s election despite the Appeal Court sacking 16 members of the state House of Assembly on the same premise last year.
SINCE the beginning of this political dispensation, Plateau State has never had it so badly. The euphoria that followed the last general election, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won across the board, claiming the governorship, six House of Representatives seats, two Senatorial seats, and 16 House of Assembly seats, has been short-lived by a plethora of litigations instituted by the All Progressive Congress (APC) at various levels. Based on the outcome of the elections, it was clear that the then opposition party, the PDP, recorded a huge success as a large number of Plateau voters voted for the party.
But while still savouring the recorded victory, the state governor, Caleb Muftwang, and others elected on the PDP platform were suddenly plunged into a very precarious situation by a series of judgments from the lower tribunals to the Court of Appeal.
Though the trial Tribunals upheld the election of the state governor and Senator Simon Mwadkwon, others were sacked at a swoop. The Tribunal held that the state and the federal lawmakers elected on the PDP platform cannot stand as candidates for the elections because the party lacks a structure; consequently, they all lost their seats to the opponent, the APC.
Apparently dissatisfied, the lawmakers proceeded to the Appeal Court, Abuja Division, while the APC gubernatorial candidate who lost at the lower tribunal also made a similar move.
In its judgment, the Appellate Court sacked the 23 Plateau State lawmakers elected on the PDP platform in both the State and Federal Legislative Houses. The state governor, Muftwang, was also not spared, as his declaration and return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also nullified by the same court on November 19, 2023.
The affected state and federal lawmakers are Timothy Datong (Riyom), Rimyat Nanbol (Langtang), Moses Sule (Mikang), Salome Waklek (Pankshin), Bala Fwangje (Mangu South), Maren Ishaku (Bokkos), Dagogot (Quaanpan North), Nannim Langyi (Langtang North), Nimchak Rims (Langtang South), Danjuma Azi (Jos North-West), Gwottson Fom (Jos South), Abubakar Sani Idris (Mangu North), Happiness Akawu (Pengana), Ibrahim Abalak (Rukuba/Irigwe), Philip Jwe (Barkin Ladi), and Cornelius Deyok (Qua’apan South).
The Appellate Court position
The Appellate Court held that the PDP acted in breach of a subsisting court order when it fielded them as its candidates for the National Assembly election that was held in the state on February 25. It also directed that the elected senators’ certificates of return be withdrawn and issued to the first runners-up.
But while the governor had the opportunity to move to the Supreme Court, the fate of the state and federal lawmakers was sealed at the Court of Appeal. The candidates of the APC were returned to fill these seats.
The judgment therefore generated uproar and mixed feelings and, at the same time, altered the political configuration at the state House of Assembly. All 16 PDP members of the assembly, including the Speaker and other principal office holders vacated their seats, leaving just eight members—four APC members, two Labour Party members, and one member of the Young Progressive Party—to run the affairs of the House. The latter, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, was then elected Speaker of the House. However, all attempts by the APC Court of Appeal beneficiaries to be inaugurated were tactically blocked by Dewan, who shut down the House on the premise of recess and renovation of the Assembly complex.
Controversy over the Supreme Court verdict
Meanwhile, the build-up to the Supreme Court judgment was fraught with quite a lot of intrigues and political shenanigans. There was fear and anxiety as no one could predict what might likely be the outcome. The APC was optimistic that the Apex Court would uphold the judgment of the Appellate Court; the PDP, on the other hand, believes the judgment will be in its favour.
Like a thunderbolt, the judgment came with a bang. The Supreme Court, led by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim JSC, unanimously set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal that sacked Governor Muftwang, describing it as “perverse because the issue of the primary election that produced Muftwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court, and not one of the valid grounds to void an election”.
The concurring opinion of Honourable Justice Inyang Okoro (JSC) further buttressed the lead justice when he declared, “My only worry is that a lot of people have suffered because of this judgment,” referring to the state and federal lawmakers, whose faith were sealed at the Appellate Court.
Honourable Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju (JSC) also corroborated this when she declared the issue of nomination and sponsorship despite several decisions of the apex court to the effect that another political party cannot challenge the primary election of another. In a nutshell, the apex court affirmed the decision of the Lower Tribunal and upheld Muftwang’s election as governor of Plateau State.
Following the judgment, the State Chairman of the PDP, Honourable Chris Hassan, told Sunday Tribune that the party, both at the state and national levels, had petitioned the National Judiciary Council (NJC) over what he called miscarriage of justice by both the trial Tribunal and the Appellate Court in the case of the 16 state and six federal lawmakers sacked.
The party chairman, who said the judgment of the Apex Court has set the record straight over the controversial judgments, added that the party has equally petitioned the Justice Walter Onneghen Committee’s set up by the Chief Justice of the Federation to look into such an abscess.
In a statement signed by his media consultant, Comrade Clinton Garuba, the former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, who is also a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, corroborated the position of the state chairman of the party, confirming that the party had petitioned the NJC.
“The good people of Plateau State, through the government of Plateau State and the PDP, have already petitioned the NJC to review all the judgments involving Plateau State that were delivered by the Court of Appeal, which effectively stopped those that have been elected to the national and state houses of assembly from representing their constituencies.
“With the Supreme Court judgment, it has become an abnormality for them to remain as legislators when they could not win elections at the polls; this should not be allowed to stand. The authorities must give back to the people their true representatives and restore their mandate,” he said.
Since the battle at the Supreme Court has been lost and won in favour of Governor Muftwang, the general belief among members of the PDP is that the judgment must be cascaded down to the sacked state and national assembly lawmakers. But the opinion on the other side of the divide differs. The state chapter of the APC, through its State Publicity Secretary, Mr Slyvanus Namang, averred in a statement that it was inconvenient to translate the judgment of the Supreme Court to the sacked lawmakers, saying that the terminal point for the latter was the Appeal Court.
However, the judgment of the Apex Court has set both the unfavoured and the beneficiaries of the Appeal Court judgment on a coalition course. While the sacked PDP lawmakers posited that, by virtue of the Supreme Court judgment, they can return to their seats. The APC beneficiaries, who have since collected their certificates of return, said they have the legal backing of the Appeal Court to be inaugurated as members of the Plateau State House of Assembly.
The sacked PDP lawmakers, through its spokesman, Honourable Ishaku Maren, stirred the hornet’s nest last week when he vowed at a press conference that the 16 of them who were sacked by the Appeal Court would resume legislative duties the following day, saying they were taking leverage from the Supreme Court judgment, which overturned the judgment of the lower court and reinstated Governor Mutfwang as the duly elected governor of the state.
“You might be aware that while we are on a recess. There were two judgments that were passed regarding the status of the state House of Assembly and Plateau State as a whole. The first one was that given by the Court of Appeal, where they said that one cannot put something on nothing; that the PDP in Plateau State has no structure, and it was on that premise that they sacked all the 16 PDP members, and lo and behold, as we were on a recess, a superior court gave its own verdict regarding the same issue, and in the judgment of the Supreme Court, they said that the judgment that was brought before the Court of Appeal in its entirety was fraudulent and that the Court of Appeal lacked even the jurisdiction to entertain the entire matter. By that, it shows that we are also referring to the same judgment that one cannot build something on nothing,” he declared.
But as the sacked PDP lawmakers approached the state assembly premise to gain entrance for legislative proceedings during the week, some stern-looking policemen blocked them, while the Speaker of the House, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, was also evasive, declaring that only eight members of the House would be allowed to resume legislative duties out of the 32 members legally seeking to be included in the state assembly.
He said since the 32 members all have their certificates of return, it would be unlawful to admit only the 16 PDP members into the chambers, adding that he has a court injunction restraining him from inaugurating the APC members.
“For now, only eight members will be sitting. I have a court injunction restraining the House from inaugurating the 16 APC members. Yes, they have their certificates of return issued to them by INEC, but they can’t be inaugurated until the final determination or vacation of the injunction,” the Speaker said.
From all indications, the PDP is seeking the judiciary interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment and the same review of the Appeal Court judgment as it affects both its state and National Assembly members sacked by the Appellant Court. The governor recently said he was exploring political and legal solutions to address the saga involving the sacking of the PDP lawmakers in the state House of Assembly by the Appeal Court over pre-election matters.
However, in spite of this, both the PDP and APC are back in court, trying to explore all available legal means to resolve the imbroglio. Those who have been monitoring the trend of events on the Plateau in recent times classified the issue at stake as a case of the rule of law and the will of the people and concluded that the two must be in accordance to resolve the impasse, which might have adverse effects on the governance of the state in the long run.
While the PDP leverages the Supreme Court judgment, the APC Appeal Court beneficiaries are insisting that the position of the Apex Court on the governorship election has no effect on the judgment delivered by the Appellate Court in their favour.
As the APC and PDP slug it out at the Federal High Court Jos Division, the Speaker, Dewan, elected on the YPP platform, along with seven others, remain members of the House.