Contradicting Judgements: Group urges NJC to beam searchlight on Plateau election tribunal
By Emmanuel Oloniruha
A group, Peace and Good Governance Advocates (PEGGA) has urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to focus its searchlight on the Plateau Election Petition Tribunal over conflicting and contradicting judgements.
The National Coordinator of the group, Mr Mani Immam made the call in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Immam warned that the judgments issued by the same state election petition tribunal could boomerang into a popular uprising.
He said the call was to ensure that the existing peace in plateau was not consumed through the actions of a few “errant officers and their political collaborators.”
It would be recalled that the Justice Mohammed Tukur-led tribunal overturned the victories of candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the same tribunal led by Justice William Olamide upheld results of similar elections using different sets of rules.
The judgement by the Tukur-led panel sacked about 15 persons elected on the platform of the PDP on the basis of what it described as “lack of structure”.
This is in spite of previous judgments by other courts affirming the PDP’s victories in Plateau North Senatorial election and Bassa/Jos North federal constituency.
However, the Justice Olamide-led tribunal discountenanced the argument of the APC and dismissed the cases on the ground that the PDP validly elected its candidates having resolved the crisis that predated the emergence of the present state executive of the PDP with Chris Hassan as chairman.
The pre-election disputes within the PDP led a Federal High Court to order the party to repeat its congresses which all stakeholders participated in, leading to the emergence of Hassan as chairman in February 2022.
According to Immam, there is a limit to which the populace can endure electoral manipulations.
“We are calling on NJC to put a special focus on Plateau to prevent the state and the country from unnecessary tension, on account of contradictory and conflicting judgments.
“While we are non-partisan, we are, however, afraid that this judicial gambit is increasingly raising tension in the Plateau.”
The group leader, therefore, called on judicial authorities to be mindful of the ongoing developments so as to avoid unnecessary crisis in the state. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Joseph Edeh
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