Plateau Speaker says, 16 Appeal Court endorsed lawmakers will not be sworn in

Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon Gabriel Dewan has ruled out the possibility of swearing into office, 16 Appeal Court endorsed lawmakers on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC and vowed that they would not be recognized.

The Speaker revealed that there was injunction by the Court restraining them from being sworn-in, despite the Appeal Court judgment in their favour, noting that it would amount to contempt of Court if they were sworn in.

He said the sacked lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP would also not be recognized, given the situation they found themselves.

The Speaker’s stance was at the backdrop of the APC lawmakers’ attempt to forcefully resume legislative duties on Tuesday, having been issued certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in line with the Appeal Court order.
But Dewan said he would only recognise eight members of the Assembly while the sacked PDP lawmakers, and the other 16 APC lawmakers with certificates of return will be shut out for now.

Dewan said this while speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Jos, following the resumption of the lawmakers after a long recess, after the Court of Appeal sacked 16 members elected on the platform of PDP. ¬

There was mild drama earlier on Tuesday, at Old Government House, the temporary venue of the Assembly, after a police tear gas accidentally went off.

The tear gas went off as police personnel were trying to stop supporters of the sacked members from gaining access to where the lawmakers were billed to sit.

However, the eight members gained access to the temporary premises of the Assembly, but the others were denied entry.
“At present, there are 32 members laying claim to the seats.

“Since the 32 members had their certificates of return, and are laying claim to their mandates, it would be unlawful to admit them into the chambers.

“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,’’ he said.

The embattled PDP lawmakers had arrived at the Rayfield Old Government House in Jos in the morning alongside their supporters preparatory to their resumption of plenary when the incident happened.

The policemen and other security operatives took over the premises of the Government House and prevented the sacked lawmakers led by Ishaku Maren from going into the chambers of the House of Assembly but the lawmakers vowed not to vacate the premises.
The Court of Appeal had sacked them on the grounds that the PDP had no structure and could not field candidates for the 2023 elections in Plateau State.

The court thereafter declared the 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) members who came second in the elections as winners.
Although the former lawmakers kicked against the development, their protest regained momentum after the Supreme Court overruled the Appeal Court which sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang.

In its judgment on January 12, the apex court held that the lower court erred in nullifying the governor’s election.

Whereas the case of the former lawmakers could not be heard at the Supreme Court, the PDP legislators had said the apex court ruling was binding on them.

Addressing journalists after emerging from the chamber, the Speaker of the Assembly, Gabriel Dewan, said, “As you will recall, on November 22, 2023, the Plateau State House of Assembly went into recess and adjourned to resume on January 23, 2024. And today as you can see, we are back to resume our legislative duties officially. I pray God Almighty will take control within the new year and we are ready to give the government of President Bola Tinubu and the executive governor of Plateau State all the needed legislative support.”

Asked whether the House would allow the 16 sacked PDP lawmakers to resume their duties or swear in those who were declared winners by the Court of Appeal to take over from them, the speaker said, “I’m not a law interpreter. For now, we are lawmakers but I’m in receipt of a court process that regards the issue. At the moment, we have 16 vacancies at the state House of Assembly and there are court processes over this. As I’m talking to you, we have 32 members claiming the 16 vacancies in the Assembly.

“And like I said, we are lawmaker’s and not law interpreters. So, we allow the institution saddled with the responsibility of interpretation to interpret the law. So in due course, we will feed the public with the next line of action but for now, we have only eight House of Assembly members until the determination of the court process.”

Reacting, the leader of the 16 sacked PDP lawmakers, Maren Ishaku, expressed satisfaction with the position of the speaker and led his members away.

“We are satisfied with the position of the speaker and at the right time, we will know who the rightful owners of those vacant seats are,” Ishaku stated.

Sylvanus Namang, Spokesman for the APC in the state, defended the absence of the 16 members of his party who were declared winners by the Court of Appeal during Tuesday’s plenary, saying they could not have showed up in line with due legislative process.
He accused the PDP lawmakers of overheating the system with their presence at the resumption of plenary which he said was unnecessary.

Namang said, “We are not under any impression that our 16 members who have their certificate of return will attend any plenary today being Tuesday. As a law-abiding party, we know that it is only the eight recognised members that were supposed to sit today. Then after that, they will admit our 16 members who have their certificate of return.

“So, all the 16 sacked PDP members invading the House today is very unnecessary and unfortunate. They are only resorting to self-help and overheating the system and this will be more injurious to the PDP government in Plateau State. I think this rascality has to stop because the desperation will not take us anywhere. We are law-abiding citizens and nobody owns the state more than any other,” the APC spokesman said.