Senior lawyers disagree over what should happen to lawmakers from Plateau State who were wrongfully dismissed by the Court of Appeal, but they haven't been heard regarding the differences in the court's reading of the law. The matter now is to test the provision in the Electoral Act 2022 that terminated disputes arising from the elections into the National Assembly at the Appeal Court, in contrast to the 1999 Constitution that ends all disputes at the Supreme Court. The affected Senators pledged to use all legal means to secure justice.
The dismissed senators, Simon Mwadkwon, who represented the Plateau North senatorial district, and Napoleon Bali, who represented Plateau South, felt that they and other affected state Assembly lawmakers were unfairly treated by the Appeal Court in order to further the political agendas of some influential state politicians. They further claimed that the Supreme Court's ruling upholding Caleb Mutfwang's election as the state governor vindicated their position. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State held its primary elections on the same day and according to the same rules, producing both the governor and the parliamentarians.
While the Appeal Court declared the party's primaries to be "illegal," nullifying the elections for governor and parliamentarians, the Supreme Court disapproved with the lower court's ruling and overturned the Appeal Court's ruling.
-
- As E Dey Happen