Seven members from the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State are in doubt about their political fate because Speaker of the State Assembly Gabriel Dewan has not yet given them their sworn in.
Remember that a protracted impasse that has beset the assembly since last year was resolved when Dewan, the lone representative of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) in the Assembly, recently swore in nine of the sixteen APC and Labour Party Members. This issue started when the Appeal Court dismissed 16 PDP parliamentarians, and in their place, 15 APC members and one LP member were declared the election winners.
The speaker announced that he had received two court injunctions to prevent the lawmakers from being sworn in when the Assembly convened in January following a two-month break. This was because the dismissed PDP lawmakers were also making a new attempt to win back their seats.
However, after persistent pressure and political manoeuvring behind closed doors, Dewan chose to swear in nine of the 16 APC and LP legislators. This decision sparked a new round of controversy, with many criticising the standards by which the speaker had chosen them.
In defence of his choice, Dewan claimed that the eight APC members and one LP member who were sworn in had properly fulfilled the requirements for inauguration. He said that after they fulfilled the same requirements, the last seven will be sworn in.
But APC State Chairman Rufus Bature claimed the nine members were forced to sign undated resignation forms and were sworn in under duress. He said that those who complied with these requirements were the ones sworn in, and that those who disobeyed the terms would be forced to retire.
The nine Members who were sworn in were reportedly given instructions to defect to the state’s ruling PDP before they were even sworn in, according to sources from the State House of Assembly. The sources claim that plans are being arranged between the new legislators and Governor Caleb Mutfwang to ease their return to the PDP. This action is interpreted as an attempt by the PDP, which is currently in power, to retake the assembly after losing all of its seats at the Court of Appeal.
Daniel Naanlong, one of the seven APC Members currently awaiting oaths, told our reporter that he would not sign the undated resignation form. He maintained that they had complied with every legal requirement.
Naanlong stressed that all seven parliamentarians already have a certificate of return and an asset declaration form from the Code of Conduct Bureau, which are the only criteria for inauguration.
“We have our certificate of return. Whatever the speaker says, he knows the truth. The law is very simple for the inauguration. There is no procedure or documentation apart from what the law says,” Naanlong said.
Upon being approached, Isa Madaki, the Deputy Speaker of the House and one of the APC MPs sworn in last week, did not return our calls or messages on their potential defection to the PDP.
However, in response to the events, Plateau South PDP Zonal Chairman Simon Domle informed Clusterchannel that the PDP is happy that the lawmakers want to join their party. But he also said that the party will have to debate any decision about their move.
Shittu Bamaiyi, the APC’s interim state press secretary, meanwhile, maintained that the seven APC lawmakers must be sworn in regardless of the speaker’s assertions. Bamaiyi argued that nothing should prevent the house from swearing them in, citing the Court of Appeal’s ruling in support of this view.
