by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Recent judgment of the Court of Appeal Abuja of the re-run election in Plateau North has raised concerns over the State.
Speaking to journalists in Jos, while reacting to the judgment (by the Appeal Court), Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Musa Ashoms, said “It is quite unfortunate that people will go through another stress of elections again; but the result will not change, the margin is what will change, the margin will be wider now.”
The commissioner fumed that, “The judgment was delivered in plain English, when the judge says all, it means nobody will be exempted and, you know, this judgment is Plateau North and it is known to be just like Plateau State.
“I want to use this opportunity to tell our people that this is what the court has said; INEC was there when the PDP had their primaries election, which was in January 2022, and the Electoral Law clearly stipulates the number of days you can go to court when there are infringements.
“It is 14 days after primary election, but it is disheartening and appalling that over a year-plus we are still talking about the election matter. The Electoral Law clearly stipulates the nation but being that, that’s what the court has said, we will go for another election without exemptions,” he stated.
Hon. Ashoms recalled that there was a case in one of the constituencies in Borno State, where the APC was challenging the PDP for pre-election matter, and Justice Chioma Nwosu Iheme struck it out, that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to look at the matter. In fact, she said even the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to look at the matter.
“So, we have conflicting judgment in Nigeria, but in our matter it is simply because it was delivered in plain English. So, when the judgment says all it means nobody will be exempted and you know this judgment is Plateau North and it is known to be just like Plateau State,” he said.
The commissioner stressed that, “So, this means all of us – PDP and others – because the PDP won in their election. The APC did not even come second; they came third. Ideally, if there was a problem, they would have announced the first runner-up as the winner and the Certificate of Return issued to him, but this matter is complicated.
According to Ashoms, “For those that understand English grammar, the language of the law, because in Nigeria you are expected to speak English when delivering law, and the judges spoke English; they said all will participate. All means, PDP and others.”
Hon. Ashoms noted that, “Just as people came out and voted for them overwhelmingly, by the grace of God and when we went to the National Assembly this is our mandate translated into minority leadership of the Senate, and you cannot throw to the dogs; we will mobilize.
“The Senatorial District have been deprived of representations about this 90 days, but we hope that very soon they will go back and continue with what they have started.
“Other judgments are going to come just like here, on the Plateau the tribunal said, Musa Agah and Sen Mwakwon had no issue and were declared winners of the election; but the Court of Appeal, which is the highest court in this matter, has decided.
“We are going to come back home and continue with campaigns, and at the end of the day we know we will come out victorious, and it’s not going to affect it in anyway,” Ashoms stated.
He explained that, “In the same tribunal here in Plateau, where we have Court 1 and Court 2, and Court 4, Court 2 said ‘not validly nominated,’ and you know, it’s not the same judges that will sit on the entire matter.
“So, these are pre-election matters at this level. I was thinking there were going to strike these matters out and allow people to continue with legislation, allow them to continue with the mandate that Plateau North has given them.
“But, it is quite unfortunate that we into this part again; they will come back home, because there is no higher court in their own matter, it ends in the Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal has given its verdict. So, they will come back and prepare for elections and, by the grace of God, we are going to win with a wider margin,” the commissioner applauded.
According to him, “When you call people ‘opposition,’ it means, they are opposites; it means they see things from the negative perspectives all the time. It means, when you are right, they are wrong; when you are up, they are down,” Ashoms noted.