Plateau: Group Urges Tinubu, NJC To Call Appeal Court Judges To Order 

A group, Plateau Youths Liberation Movement (PYLM) ha s called on President Bola Tinubu to wade into the current political crisis arising from the recent judgments of the Court of Appeal that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang and some members of the National Assembly from the State.
Acting coordinator of the group, Joshua Jephtha, made the call in a press conference on Wednesday in Jos.
The appellate court set aside the judgement of the governorship election tribunal that upheld the election of Mr Mutfwang as governor.
It declared Nentawe Yilwatda of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the governorship election.
The appeal court had earlier sacked some members of the National Assembly from the State, citing lack of structure as a rationale.
Mr Jephtha said that the judgements were largely considered in many quarters as a “miscarriage of justice” and called on the President to call the judges of the Appeal Court to order to save the State from impending crisis.
“PLYM is a collection of concerned youths whose interest basically rests on liberating and moving Plateau forward; our aim is to promote the unity of the State.
“The State had in the last few months enjoyed relative peace, and this is due to the concerted efforts of the state government and security agencies, unfortunately, the recent judgments are threatening the current peace.
“This is why we are calling on President Bola Tinubu to use his ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra, which means hope for every Nigerian, irrespective of political inclination, to address these concerns.
“We call on the President, being the father of all, irrespective of political party, to wade into the matter to save democracy and ensure the rule of law prevails at all times,” he said.
The acting coordinator, who agreed with the recent assertion of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the recent judgments, described as abnormal and totally unacceptable a situation where few persons overturn the decisions of millions of voters during elections.
He, however, called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review all the appeal court judgments on elections in Plateau State, adding that such a move would save the sinking image of the judiciary.
“We equally agree with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the judiciary makes politicians who did not participate in primaries to be named as candidates while actual winners of elections are sacked for flimsy reasons
“So, we are appealing to the NJC and other critical stakeholders in the judiciary to intervene with a view of ensuring that the right thing is done”.
“Democracy is being threatened, the court should not force leaders on the people whom they did not elect. Unfortunately, this is the current situation in Plateau.
“We urge the judges of the Supreme Court to critically look into the appeal court judgement that sacked Mutfwang with a view of reversing it.
“As renowned jurists, we are confident that you will keep your personal sentiments aside and consider the merits of the case,” he said.
The acting coordinator said that what played out in Zamfara should not be juxtaposed with that of Plateau, insisting that a cursory look at the two scenarios suggests that those drawing the comparison were merely doing it out of mischief.
“Our investigation shows that in Zamfara, the fight was between two APC groups, one led by former Gov. Abdulaziz Yari and the other led by Sen. Kabiru Marafa.
“Two groups both contested the party’s primaries. It means Marafa was constitutionally qualified to challenge Yari in court.
“But in Plateau, the APC challengers have been rightfully described by a tribunal judge as ‘meddlesome interlopers’, poke nosing into the affairs of PDP, a party they aren’t members of,” he explained.
Mr Jephtha, however, appealed to politicians in the state to learn to accept the verdict of the people during elections, adding Plateau would always be one.