PLATEAU: ISHAYA ADAMU vs PDP & 8 OTHERS: COURT LAMBAST PDP LEGAL ADVISER, AS IT DISMISSES APPLICATION TO CORRECT SLIP ERROR

By: Valentine Adese (JP),

The Plateau State High Court, presided over by Hon. Justice A. I. Ashom, has questioned whether the Plateau state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a Legal Adviser or that the state Chairman of the party is now the Legal Adviser.

The Judge while rule on an application filed by, Hon. Markus Heseini Nyam (aka Kaduna) had (for himself and all the purported witnesses of the Jos East PDP Congress), Hon. Gwott Yakubu Chocho (for himself and all the Caretaker members of PDP Plateau State), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Plateau State Chapter (sued for itself and on behalf of the members of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), Mr. David Wwanya, Capt. Modey Hart (PDP LGA Appeal Panel), INEC, Prof. Maxwell Gidado, for an Order of the Court, to correct the slip in Relief (f) in the Judgment in Suit No: PLD/J276CV/2020, delivered on the 24^th of June, 2021 by correcting the word “Congresses” to read “Congress” and by adding the phrase, “in Jos East Local Government Area (LGA)”, immediately after the word Congress, expressed surprise over the role of the State Legal Adviser of the party.

In his ruling, Hon. Justice Ashom said, “From the foregoing, one then wonders how the Legal Adviser to the Applicants, who deposed to the supporting Affidavit gathered as he deposed in paragraph six that Ehibit1 nullified the entire Congresses in all the Local Government Area of Plateau State?

“It would appear, (sic) that it was the Chairman of the PDP that advised the deponent, its Legal Adviser on the import of the Judgment, and not the other way round.

“The Legal Adviser definitely first got it right what the Judgment meant but allowed himself to be misled and ill advised by his Chairman which informs his misconceived view that there are slips or errors in the Judgment which need to be corrected.

“No doubt, if such errors existed and are pointed out, the Court definitely possesses the power to correct same. The Law is trite on that.”

You would recall that REALTY had reported that, the Plateau State High Court had dismissed the Application of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 8 others, seeking for an Order of Court to correct alleged Slip/Typographic errors in the Judgment in Suit NO: PLD/J276CV/2020, delivered on the 24^th of June, 2021, for lacking in basis and merit.

In his ruling on the Application yesterday, Thursday, 24^th February, 2022, the presiding Judge, Hon. Justice A. I. Ashom said, it would amount to redrafting the words of the claimant in their relief (f) in suit No: PLD/J276CV/2020.

Hon. Justice Ashom, in his ruling stated that, “In the Application at hand, the implication of what the Applicants seek the Court to do is to redraft for the Claimant the words of their relief (f) by adding the word Jos East LGA to take away their impression that the Claimant meant that the Court set aside the congress conducted in the whole of Plateau state.

“That certainly is not a correction but an alteration or an amendment which this Court has no jurisdiction to do.

“I so hold.

“I resolve the issue in the negative, and rule that the Application is lacking in basis and merit. Same is accordingly dismissed.”