Plateau crisis: Sacked 16 PDP lawmakers, APC beneficiaries set to clash as House reconvenes today

The political crisis rocking Plateau State in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment, which affirmed Governor Caleb Muftwang as elected governor of the state, has taken on another dimension as the 16 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state lawmakers sacked by the Court of Appeal have vowed to resume legislative business on Tuesday.

This is even as the 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates who are the beneficiaries of the Appeal Court judgment have notified the House for official inauguration.

Recall that all elected PDP candidates in the last general election were sacked by the lower tribunal and courts of appeal on the premise of a lack of a political structure, but Governor Caleb Muftwang escaped with the judgment of the Supreme Court which knocked off the grounds upon which the appellate court nullified his election.

Nigerian Tribune findings revealed that the sacked 16 PDP lawmakers have decided to leverage on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Muftwang case to assume that if the Supreme Court, which is the apex court, could affirm the governor, they equally deserve such.

It was learnt that as the eight members of the Assembly resumed from recess today, both the sacked and beneficiaries were warming up to approach the House for either resumption or inauguration as new members.

Addressing newsmen on Monday, the spokesman for the sacked PDP lawmakers, Ishaku Maren, said the 16 of them were leaning on the Supreme Court judgment which upturned the judgment of the appellate court in favor of Governor Caleb Muftwang as the duly elected governor of the state.

The lawmakers, through their spokesman, advised their APC counterparts to stay away from the state assembly because the Supreme Court, by its pronouncement, had invalidated the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which sacked them.

Maren said: “The Supreme Court has revalidated our election, which was wrongly taken away from us by the lower court. As law-abiding citizens, we are ready to resume work to represent the people who duly elected us.

“As you can see, the 16 PDP members of the Plateau State House of Assembly are all here to address the press regarding our resumption of duty tomorrow because our recess will be ending today, and by tomorrow, we are resuming work in earnest.

“You might be aware that while we’re on 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 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.”

The 16 PDP lawmakers therefore strongly advised Governor Muftwang not to interfere, adding that they would resist any attempt to prevent them from assuming duty as lawmakers.

“The Court of Appeal members are deceiving themselves by saying that they are coming to the house tomorrow to resume work, but I’m confident to tell you that we are a product of democracy.

“We are validly elected by the majority of votes that were cast in our various respective constituencies, and our constituents are willing and ready to accompany us citizens tomorrow because they voted for us and they are not ready to compromise that, and that is why they are seeing us to the state assembly tomorrow.”

However, one of the beneficiaries of the Appeal Court judgment, who craved anonymity, warned the PDP not to throw Plateau State into darkness and crisis, adding that the judgment of the Appellate Court Court was final and could not be reversed for whatever reason.

He disclosed that arrangements have been concluded by 16 of them who are of the APC stock to approach the Speaker of the House, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, for a possible inauguration to commence legislative business.

“We are products of the rule of law and due process; the Appeal Court, which is the final arbiter in this situation, has spoken, and there is no going back. As the House resumes today, we shall approach the Speaker for our inauguration,” he said.

All efforts to speak with the Speaker of the House, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, proved abortive, as he cannot be reached on his phone.

Meanwhile, the APC has stated that the plan by the sacked PDP lawmakers to attend the sitting of the state assembly is an invitation to anarchy.

The APC in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary Mr Slyvanus Namang pointed out that the information at the disposal of the party revealed that the sacked members would be accompanied by members of their various constituencies to cause  confusion  of an unimaginable proportion.

“What began last week as a veiled threat by a former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Honourable Istifanus Caleb Mwansat during an interview with a national television station is fast becoming a reality.

“The APC and all peace-loving citizens of Plateau State had expected that he ought not be walking the streets as a free citizen following his inflammatory outbursts”.

Namang claimed that the plans and threats by the sacked members contemplating any resumption of sitting as members are not only an assault on democracy but also an insurrection against the state, being an unabashed contempt of court.

He added that the APC accepted for the sake of democracy and peaceful coexistence, the judgment of the Supreme Court in good faith and appealed to its members not to embark on anything to the contrary which they obeyed.

The publicity secretary said the Supreme Court judgment, which awarded victory to the Governor, is personal to him and has no multiplier or spill-over effect on anyone already sacked.

“This is moreover that there was no case pertaining to the National and State Assembly Elections before the Supreme Court. The orbiter dictum as made by Justice Okoro concerning the fate of the sacked lawmakers cannot be said to be having any force of law.”

“The Appeal Court judgment which sacked the 16 PDP State House of Assembly members and all its National Assembly members has a stamp of finality which cannot be upturned by any Court in the land in line with Section 246 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“Just as we have accepted, as true democrats, the decision of the Supreme Court, the PDP has no option than to accept the fate that has befallen them and wait for the next election circle.”

He called on all arms of security agencies in the state to up the ante to handle any illegal acts as the Plateau State House of Assembly resumes sitting today adding that the rule of law should be allowed to take its course and anything to the contrary should be visited with the most appropriate sanctions.

Namang added that Plateau, which is standing on a very delicate security tripod following so many upheavals that claimed hundreds of lives, could not afford this very avoidable threat and legislative onslaught.