Amid Tension, Group Wants Court Of Appeal President To Disown Political Actors In Plateau

A group known as “Peace and Justice for the Common Man” has appealed to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to intervene even as it has called on Monica Dongban-Mensem the President of the Court of Appeal to disown political actors in Plateau State boasting of their connections with the judiciary to take control of the state.

The group spoke in the wake of the tension in Plateau State fanned by the contradictory judgments that have seen some courts give conflicting judgments and usurp the orders of the Supreme Court that put pre-election matters outside the purview of election tribunals.

In a statement signed by the Chairman, Dawuda Elisha and General Secretary Muhammad Dahiru in Abuja, the group urged the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, to disown political actors who have been boasting that they would use her townsman, the Minister of Labour and Employment, and former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, to create chaos in Plateau State.

It would be recalled that Lalong who as an incumbent governor lost his bid for the Plateau South Senate seat by more than 50,000 votes was recently awarded the same seat after the National Assembly tribunal used the pre-election issue to remove the victorious PDP senator, Senator Napoleon Bali.

A number of other victorious PDP political office holders have been stripped of victory based on the pre-election issue despite the Supreme Court ruling that pre-election matters should not be used to determine election cases as was done in the case of President Bola Tinubu.

The group expressed dismay at the behavior of several individuals, who had openly boasted about the APC forcefully seizing the PDP mandate at the Appeal Court with allege influence of the President.

The group emphasized that the Appeal Court’s judgment was based on a pre-election matter that had been previously addressed and resolved by several Supreme Court judgments. They pleaded with the NJC to intervene by holding the President of the Appeal Court accountable.

The group highlighted that Plateau State PDP had complied with the state High Court’s order by conducting a repeat party congress on September 25, 2021, supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and presented the results at the lower tribunal in Jos.

The Chairman clarified that no member of the PDP or any individual had challenged the repeated congress, which was conducted transparently, even with the participation of Bitrus Kaze, who had initiated the earlier suit but accepted defeat.

The group further explained that the matter was dismissed at the election tribunal because it was a pre-election issue falling under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, not the tribunal. They pointed out the relevant sections of the constitution and the Electoral Act, emphasizing that only an aspirant can challenge the nomination and sponsorship of any candidate within 14 days after the primary election.

Additionally, the group cited a judgment from the Appeal Court on October 20, 2023, which dismissed a similar case from Hon. Asirawu in Borno State, highlighting the tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction over pre-election matters.

The group urgently called on President Tinubu and the NJC to address the Plateau State PDP Appeal cases and ensure that justice prevails in the collective interest of the state.

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