Justice Abdulaziz Waziri of the Court of Appeal has explained the judgment of the court that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang and national and state assembly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state....CONTINUE READING
The judge, who spoke at the 2023 Law Week in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, on Tuesday, December 12, said those who are criticising the court verdict are not getting the point, The Nation reported.
The judge, who spoke at the 2023 Law Week in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, on Tuesday, December 12, said those who are criticising the court verdict are not getting the point, The Nation reported.
He maintained that the PDP did not have a party structure as of the time of presenting their candidates.
The judge also said he was a member of the panel that decided the case. He said the case against the PDP in Plateau state was not a pre-election matter.
He urged the bar and the bench to always stand on the side of the law.
The Plateau state governorship election petition tribunal earlier upheld election of Mutfwang.
But he was sacked by the Court of Appeal on the ground that the PDP did not have structure as of the time the party nominated him.
The case was the same with the three senators, and House of Representatives members elected on the platform of the PDP in Plateau state.
The 16 lawmakers in the Plateau State House of Assembly were also sacked for the same reason.
Justice Waziri explains why PDP lawmakers were sacked
Justice Waziri said: “Some people may say it was a pre-election, agreed. On qualification issues, elections can be pre- and post-election matters depending on what you may understand as qualification. The issue in Plateau State is not a pre-election matter per se.
“There was a subsisting court order given by the Plateau State High Court that PDP should go and have their congresses on that day. They flouted the order of that court, they appealed to the Court of Appeal, they could repeal the decision of the lower court, they filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, they failed to pursue the appeal and the Supreme Court dismissed that appeal.
“So, the matter as it stood at that time is that they had no structures on the ground. So, any candidate they have fielded would have no place to stand in the eyes of the law, so that is what happened.”
