Group seeks NJC’s intervention on Plateau PDP appeals

A group, Peace and Justice for the Common Man, has called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the President of the Court of Appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem, to disown political actors boasting of their connections with the judiciary to take control of Plateau State,

The group, in a statement issued by its chairman, Dawuda Elisha, General Secretary, Muhammad Dahiru, on Wednesday, urged the Dongban-Mensem to disown political actors who it said have been boasting to use the Minister of Labour and Employment, and former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, to create chaos in Plateau State.

The group alleged that some elected officials on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 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.

It added that several individuals, including Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, Ahmed Idris Wase, Lalong, and the APC governorship candidate Nentawe Yilwatda, boasted about the APC forcefully seizing the PDP mandate at the Appeal Court with allege influence of President Bola Tinubu.

The group, however, pleaded with the NJC to intervene by holding the President of the Appeal Court accountable.

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It stated that the Plateau 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 tribunal in Jos.

It noted that no member of the PDP or any individual had challenged the repeated congress, which it said was conducted transparently with the participation of 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 and not the tribunal.

It cited the relevant sections of the constitution and the Electoral Act, emphasising that only an aspirant can challenge the nomination and sponsorship of any candidate within 14 days after the primary election.

The group, therefore, called on President Tinubu and the NJC to address the Plateau PDP appeals and ensure that justice prevails in the interest of the state.

The Star