PLATEAU: BREAKING: WHAT IS EVEN MORE PERPLEXING IS THAT, THE PDP THINKS THE NJC IS AN ARM OF THEIR UNORGANIZED POLITICAL PLATFORM--LABOUR PARTY (LP) REACTS

By: Valentine Adese (JP),

As the issues relating to the Judgments delivered by the Tribunal Panel Chaired by, Hon. Justice B. M. Tukur, continues to make the rounds and the Petition against the Members of the Panel also generating a fresh debate, the Labour Party Publicity Secretary in the State has descried he posture of the PDP in the matter as a, “DELIBERATE HYPOCRITICAL EFFORTS TO RIDICULE THE JUDICIARY WHEN TRIBUNAL JUDGEMENT IS NOT IN THEIR FAVOUR, BUT PRAISING SAME WHEN IT IS IN THEIR FAVOUR”.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF LABOUR PARTY BELOW:-

RE: PETITION AGAINST HON. JUSTICE B. M. TUKUR, HON. JUSTICE OMAKA ELEKWA AND HON. JUSTICE O. A. ADETUJOYE FOR DELIBERATE PERVERSION OF JUSTICE AND CONSPIRACY TO REMOVE CANDIDATES OF OUR PARTY ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT.

It is with utter amazement that the PDP in Plateau State has taken its gross disrespect for constituted authority to another level. This time around, the purported Chairman and Secretary of the Party in the State have written a petition dated 25th September, 2023, to the National Judicial Council (NJC) against the judges that presided on the National and State Assembly Election Petition led by Hon. Justice B. M. Tukur, and shared the said petition on social media platforms to whip sentiments.

What is even more perplexing is that PDP in Plateau State think that the NJC is another arm of their unorganized political platform. You could see clearly that the petition is a complete display of ignorance of the workings of the judicial arm of government. Indeed, they intend to drag the judiciary into their political shenanigans by politicizing cases legitimately decided by judges of the tribunal who discharged their duties dispassionately.

Firstly, it is expedient to note that the Hon. Justices being petitioned, worked with the facts and documents presented before them by the petitioners, especially the binding decisions of the Court of Appeal against PDP in Plateau State as lately as 28th October, 2022. The Tribunal was bound by the principle of Judicial Precedence/stare decisis and the doctrine of issue Estoppel.

One is forced to wonder why the same PDP did not petition the Justices of both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal that decided the cases of Musa Agah and Peter Dasat. Of course, they raised the issue of their purported congress of 25th September, 2021 in those cases. But both the tribunal and court of appeal held that they had not yet complied with the order of justice Gang. The Court of Appeal held in Musa Agah’s case, thus:

“it is important to point out at this stage that the Appellants have a misconception of this issue. This issue is not whether the 2nd Appellant was screened and cleared to contest the election to have satisfied all the requirements of the law. The issue in controversy with regard to non-qualification of the 2nd Appellant to contest the bye election of 26th February, 2022 relates to an order of court of competent jurisdiction, the High Court of Plateau State directing the 1st Appellant to conduct election for the PDP Executive Committee Members of Plateau State… the Appellants’ Counsel has a misconception when he argued that the matter is a pre-election matter… it follows therefore, that the 1st Appellant has no structure in existence to sponsor the 2nd Appellants for the bye election.. for failure to comply with the order of State High Court in Suit No. PLD/J304/2020…”

The above decision was delivered on 28th October, 2022.

The salient questions that come to mind are:

Why didn’t PDP petition the Justices in Musa Agah and those of Peter Dasat’s cases?

After the judgements of the Appellate Court in October, 2022, did the PDP take steps to comply with the order of court?

Is PDP not still relying on the purported congress of 25th September, 2021 which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2022?

What has changed from 28th October, 2022 when the Court of Appeal gave its judgment, to the time of this last General Election?

By the way, the submission of PDP in their petition clearly shows an intention to blackmail the judiciary simply because they lost some of their cases at the tribunal. That a decision goes against you does not mean that the judges perverted justice. Justice does not mean the decision must be in your favour. In fact, to even berate the judiciary for giving judgment against you is in itself, perversion of justice.

Thankfully, the NJC is not a political department of the PDP to consider issues from emotional or political standpoints. The NJC knows better than to be dragged into this political gimmick the PDP in Plateau State is playing.

Lastly, in that feeble and uncoordinated petition of the PDP, they failed to understand that the electoral process does not start and end at the general polls. An error at the preliminary stage of the process could turn out to be brutally fatal later. No wonder, they took for granted the consistent insistence of the court that they do the right thing. They cannot now be heard to be crying foul.

The NJC should therefore, disregard the said petition as same is misconceived and ill-intended. Their attempt to gag the judiciary must fail woefully.

HON. JAMES ADARA AWARA

(Labour Party Publicity Secretary, Plateau State)