Senator Simon Davou Mwadkwon, the Senate Minority Leader, has termed the tribunal rulings invalidating the election of certain National Assembly members in Plateau State as peculiar, and has stated that they would not stand.
Mwadkwon, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator for Plateau North Senatorial District, said in a statement on Friday that he was certain that the Appellate Court would not uphold any decision that contradicted the Supreme Court’s statements.
He urged PDP members and sympathizers in Plateau State to be calm, saying that “those presently rejoicing inside their house of lies will face the reality of their self deceit when the Appeal Court takes the right decisions on the tribunal judgments.”
Senator Mwadkwon stated that the Supreme Court ruling on President Bola Tinubu’s running partner for the February 2023 presidential election, Kashim Shettima, was clear enough as to who has the authority to dispute the nomination of political party candidates.
He stated that the Supreme Court has made it clear that no political party can challenge the nomination of another political party, and he questioned how and why the tribunal could invalidate the election of duly elected National Assembly members on the grounds that there was no party structure in the state.
“Even assuming but not conceding that the PDP had no structure in Plateau State at the time the candidates were nominated,” the Senate Minority Leader said, “is it the State party structure that nominates candidates or the National?”
“Wasn’t it the PDP’s national body, which is legally empowered to nominate candidates for elections, that held the primary elections that produced our candidates?” Is it the responsibility of any other organ of a political party, other than the party’s national body, to hold primary elections?
“However, in the case of the Plateau State PDP, the party duly complied with Justice S.P. Gang’s judgment and held a repeat congress in September 2021.” The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) faithfully observed this congress as required by law.
“As a result, the Congress was upheld by the Federal High Court’s decision in the case of Augustine Timkuk versus PDP, delivered by Justice D. V. Agishi.” Furthermore, the judgment was unanimously confirmed in favor of the PDP by the Court of Appeal, Jos in a verdict made on 11 February 2023 by Justice T. Y. Hassan, Justice I. A. Andenyangtso, and Justice O. O. Goodluck.
“One now wonders where the tribunal got its ground of no party structure, on which it invalidated our duly elected National Assembly members’ elections.”
“This is also in light of the fact that one of the two panels of the National and State House of Elections Tribunal, led by Justice Williams Olamide, dismissed the ground on which the panel led by Justice Mohammed Tukur nullified elections of our party members in its own judgments.”
“Regardless of how one looks at the decisions, they clearly contradict logic and legal precedents and will almost certainly be overturned by the Appeal Court.”
“As a result, our people should remain calm, secure in the knowledge that those they willingly elected will serve their terms and fulfill their electoral promises.”
