Supreme Court judgement:Tension as 16 sacked PDP lawmakers vow to resume plenary in Plateau Assembly today

DANIEL DAUDA, Jos and
IBRAHIM QUADRI, Lagos

The 16 Plateau State House Assembly members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were sacked by the Court of Appeal have vowed to resume plenary today following the recent judgement of Supreme Court which upheld the election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
The sacked lawmakers said they are leveraging on the Supreme Court ruling, which overturned the earlier judgment of the lower court and reinstated Governor Caleb Mutfwang as the duly elected governor of the state.
Speaking with newsmen Monday in Jos, the PDP members warned their All Progressives Congress (APC) counterparts not to go near the House of Assembly because the Supreme Court by its pronouncement had invalidated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which sacked them.
The spokesman of the 16 members, Ishaku Maren, said the Supreme Court had revalidated their ejection, which was wrongly taken away from them by the Appellate Court.
Maren, who was flanked by  other 15 members, said that as law abiding citizens, they are ready to resume work to represent the people that duly elected them.
He said, “As you can see the 16 PDP members, the Plateau State House of Assembly, are all here to address the press regarding our resumption of duty tomorrow because our recess will be ending today ( Monday ), and by tomorrow,(Tuesday) we are resuming work in earnest and  we are confident to address the press by informing the general public that my members that are PDP family members in the State Assembly are in high spirits and are  willing and ready to go back and continue with our constitutional duty willingly given to us  by the  electorate. So we are all ready for the resumption of work tomorrow.
They added that “You might be aware that while we were on recess, there were two judgments that were passed regarding the status of State House of Assembly and Plateau State as a whole.”
The first one was that given by the Court of Appeal, where they said that one cannot put something on nothing; that PDP in Plateau state has no structure and it was on that premise that they sacked all the 16 PDP members and lo and behold as we were on recess a superior court gave its own verdict regarding the same issue and in the judgement of the Supreme Court they said that the judgment that was brought before the Court of Appeal in its entirety was fraudulent and because of that  the Court of Appeal lacked even the jurisdiction to entertain the entire matter.
“By that it shows that we are also referring to the same judgement that one cannot build something on nothing.”
They advised the governor not to interfere because they’re going to resist all pressure.
“The APC members are deceiving themselves that they are coming to the house tomorrow to resume work but I’m confident to tell you that we are a product of democracy.
“We are validly elected by the majority of votes that were cast in our various respective constituencies and our constituents are willing and ready to accompany us tomorrow because they voted for us and they are not ready to compromise that and that is why they are seeing us to the state Assembly tomorrow.”

Restructure Nigeria now to prevent disintegration, Bode George tells Tinubu

Meanwhile, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently address the ravaging insecurity by putting in place machinery for the restructuring of the country.
Atona Oodua of Yorubaland said the level of insecurity had made it difficult for international economic investment that could only prevail in a politically stable environment.
This was contained in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen, saying , “Nigeria is close to the precipice and any little push can lead to a total disintegration. That is why the Bola Tinubu administration should put on its armour and tackle this menace in the society now.
“From Sokoto to Oyo, Rivers to Niger, Imo to Taraba; high rate of unemployment, chronic hunger and malnutrition are so prevalent in the land. According to a popular saying, an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. Since people must eat, they will resort to anything that will put food on their tables, even if it is undesirable and despicable.
“I said it before and I am going to repeat it for posterity. We must restructure this country and the time is now. If we are really practising democracy the way it should be, Abuja should not breathe down the necks of all the 36 states. We must restructure immediately.
“The Federal Government must also devolve power to states to achieve more effective governance and management of each state’s resources. Governors are closer to the people. They know what their people need. Apart from monetary policy, customs, defence, foreign affairs and a few others, governors should handle the rest critical matters on the Exclusive List in the Constitution.
“In the wake of the alarming escalation of insecurity and the recent waves of kidnappings, terrorising Nigerians, it has become imperative for us to address the critical questions Nigerians are asking.
He added, “The pertinent question Nigerians are asking today is: “What exactly is going on in our country?”
“Nigerians are looking to the government to instill security amidst the fear and atrocious crimes being committed in Nigeria, which is destroying the security and stability of our nation, making Nigeria very volatile and a threat to  the personal safety of  Nigerians. The sudden increase and high prevalence rate of innocent lives lost, suffered by Nigerians communities is not only tragic but has made it almost impossible to attract the much needed international economic investment that can only prevail in a politically stable environment
“Nigerians are perpetually engulfed with fear and so they are asking what is happening to the government in power. Why are they refusing to put the national security of this nation front and centre of their political agenda? The government of the day has failed Nigerians once again.
“With the recent killing of more than 200 people in Plateau State during the Christmas season, in addition to the rampant abduction of citizens everyday, Nigerians are now forced to look for tens of millions of naira in cash to pay off ransoms. I am also asking the same critical question: Whither Nigeria?”