Supreme Court ruling: Plateau parliamentarians’ predicament rekindles efforts to reform the Electoral Act
The concerns surrounding the Appeal Court’s decision to remove all of the state and federal lawmakers from Plateau State have reignited calls for a change to the Election Act.
This development coincides with increased popular indignation and unhappiness with perceived political unfairness brought about by Court of Appeal rulings on issues originating from the general elections of 2023.
The Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, had 16 members in the Plateau State House of Assembly when the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed them all in a broad ruling in November of last year over a pre-election issue involving possible violations of court orders and a lack of political structure, as the HIFOX NEWS remembers.
Prior to that, the Appeal Court had dismissed Governor Caleb Mutfwang, two state senators, and five PDP members of the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court has since overturned this ruling.
On Friday of last week, Mutfwang exhaled a breath of relief after the Supreme Court reversed the Appeal Court’s earlier dismissal of him.
Not as fortunate as Mutfwang, the state and the federal lawmakers had their different cases dismissed by the appellate court.
The Supreme Court declared in its ruling that “the nomination issue is exclusively the internal affairs of a political party,” taking aim at the Appeal Court. It is not justiciable as a result.
According to the HIFOX NEWS, in his consenting decision on Friday regarding the Plateau gubernatorial election, Justice Inyang Okoro, the head of the apex court panel, reportedly mentioned the lawmakers who had been fired, saying, “My only worry is that a lot of people have suffered as a result of the Court of Appeal’s decision.” It was utterly incorrect. The appeal is accepted.
A panel member who also agreed that the Court of Appeal had overreached itself, Justice Helen Ogunwunmiju, stated, “It was very wrong for the Court of Appeal to go into the issue of party congresses.” The party contesting the issue is a different political party, which exacerbates the situation.
On his part, Justice Emmanuel Agim said, “We have held in a plethora of cases that the sponsorship of a candidate for election is an internal affair of a political party. The Court of Appeal lacks the jurisdiction to determine the validity of the candidacy of the PDP.”
Commenting on the matter, a senior lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, accused the Appeal Court of taking away the voting rights of the people of Plateau State.
According to Ozekhome during an interview on Arise TV, the injustice the Appeal Court inflicted on the people would last until the next four years.
The legal luminary noted there could not be a judicial review of an election petition that ended at the Court of Appeal, the court being the final court in such matters.
“We have held in a plethora of cases that the sponsorship of a candidate for election is an internal affair of a political party,” Justice Emmanuel Agim stated on his part. The Court of Appeal does not have the authority to judge whether the PDP’s candidacy is legitimate.
Senior attorney Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, commented on the issue and charged that the Appeal Court had deprived the people of Plateau State of their right to vote.
In an interview with Arise TV, Ozekhome stated that the injustice the Appeal Court had perpetrated on the populace will endure for the following four years.
The eminent jurist observed that since the Court of Appeal is the final court in these cases, there could not be a judicial review of an election petition that was denied.
“In Plateau State’s case, wrongs had been committed. Because the Court of Appeal is the final court to hear cases involving the National Assembly and the House of Assembly, the damage is irreversible.
“Given the complete complement of justices on the Supreme Court, it might be necessary to reexamine the Electoral Act and declare that the Supreme Court will now hear all cases of this kind.
He explained, “It means that the Court of Appeal was able to successfully deny the people their right to vote.”
Relentlessly pursuing the issue, a report surfaced on Monday stating that the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) had petitioned the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council (NJC) regarding the dismissals of its members from the House of Representatives, Senate, and Plateau State House of Assembly by the Court of Appeal.
The ruling of the supreme court, which overturned the governor of Plateau State’s dismissal, and the justices’ concurring views, the party claimed, served as the foundation for its decision.
Without a doubt, we have already started working on that. This is due to the fact that the actions of the Supreme Court judges amounted to an indictment of the Court of Appeal justices.
“We have consistently argued along those lines. We will file a complaint with the relevant members of parliament, which include the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the House of Assembly. The remedy would concentrate on their individual offices, Ibrahim Abdullahi, the PDP’s deputy national publicity secretary, informed the press.
Additionally, former Plateau State governor Senator Jonah Jang reaffirmed the PDP’s decision to approach the NJC for a review in a statement signed by his media consultant, Mr. Clinton Garuba.
Jang expressed his sadness over the miscarriage of justice at the Court of Appeal, saying that the people of Plateau have suffered greatly as a result of the court’s rulings depriving them of their legitimate representation in both the state and national assemblies. But there is still hope.
“The good people of Plateau State, through the PDP and the Plateau State government, have already petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review all of the decisions made by the Court of Appeal regarding Plateau State, which essentially prevented those who have been elected to the national and state assemblies from serving their constituents.”
Abiodun Owonikoko, a lawyer, has voiced his opinion that the National Judicial Council has the authority to review or amend the verdict.
On Monday, Owonikoko answered questions during the Morning Show on Arise Television.
He was responding to the PDP’s request for judicial review made in a petition to the NJC.
“The NJC is not responsible for reviewing, overturning, or reviewing judgments.
“I don’t think it’s a feasible alternative to pursue, unless the aim is to only censure the judges who are impacted, which wouldn’t really address the justice issue that the public and the affected parties are genuinely concerned about.
Judges engaged in such activities ought to by now be circumspect, particularly in cases when the Supreme Court had to publicly denounce and censure them. They ought to feel regretful, he declared.
In a same vein, human rights attorney Mr. Femi Falana declared in a statement that he disagrees with the attorneys who counseled the impacted lawmakers to accept their lot in life.
Even yet, he called for the Supreme Court to reconsider some of its rulings in political issues.
“It is regrettable that the legislators who lost their seats cannot approach the Court of Appeal or any other court to reinstate them, despite the Supreme Court having validated the PDP’s primary elections in Plateau State,” Falana stated.
He declared that he was in favor of a fresh case against the Federal Government, which selected the Justices of the Court of Appeal to handle the payment of the lawmakers’ salaries and benefits throughout their four-year terms in office, to be brought before the Federal High Court.
Olu Omotayo, President of the Civil Rights Realization and Advancement Network (CRRAN), proposed amending the constitution to give the Supreme Court jurisdiction over matters involving state and federal legislative elections in an interview with HIFOX NEWS.
The problem is that, as stated in the constitution, “This is where the matter ends.” Therefore, it is a constitutional provision. All you can do is change it.
The National Assembly is the appropriate body to handle that. It is the constitutional provision that requires amendment. Allow the National Assembly to take appropriate action and for the case to proceed to the Supreme Court from the legislative houses.
But the attorney acknowledged that the supreme court might become overworked.
“There is just one Supreme Court, and it is already overworked. The thirty-six states in the union are served by a single Supreme Court. Many things are still outstanding,” he continued.
Nduka Odo, a media and communication expert at Peaceland University in Enugu, also expressed his opinions to HIFOX NEWS, saying he believes the MPs who were removed should continue their efforts till they have done everything that the constitution allows.
Any obstacle that prevents an affronted party from pursuing justice at the highest court ought to be eliminated, in his opinion.
Indeed, he stated, “The dismissed lawmakers have one last opportunity to seek redress under our constitution.”
“If they so choose, they should continue until they have done everything that the constitution permits.
As the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, obstacles preventing a party wronged from seeking justice at the highest court level must be eliminated.
“I’ve always held the view that everyone benefits when something is beneficial for one. Take a look at how the governors were able to win back their Supreme Court seats.
It was also possible for the lawmakers to reclaim their seats. For this reason, I am in favor of a similar constitutional change. Let those who feel wronged pursue all available options.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), expressed his own opinion by demanding the legislators’ immediate reinstatement.
The Plateau lawmakers “should be reinstated as a matter of urgency for the interest of fairness and justice,” according to a statement Eze provided to HIFOX NEWS.
The APC leader went on to say that Nigeria’s fragile democracy needed a break after the Supreme Court’s rulings regarding Kano and the Plateau States.
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