Court of Appeal judge Justice Abdulaziz Waziri has said the PDP lawmakers in Plateau were sacked because the party did not have a structure when the candidates were nominatedJustice Waziri said candidate nominations were both pre-election and post-election matters, depending on their natureThe Court of Appeal also sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang, three senators, and House of Reps members for the same reason.
Yola, Adamawa – Justice Abdulaziz Waziri of the Court of Appeal has explained the judgment of the court that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang and national and state assembly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state.
The judge who spoke at the 2023 Law Week in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, on Tuesday, December 12, said those who are criticising the court verdict are not getting the point, The Nation reported.
He maintained that the PDP did not have a party structure as of the time of presenting their candidates.
The judge maintained that he was a member of the panel that decided the case, the case against the PDP in Plateau State was not a pre-election matter. He urged the bar and the bench to always stand on the side of the law.
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Why Plateau governor, senators, House of Reps members others from PDP were sacked
Recall that Governor Caleb Mutfwang, whose election was earlier upheld by the Plateau state governorship election petition tribunal, was sacked by the Court of Appeal on the ground that the PDP did not have structure as of the time he was nominated by the party.
The case was the same with the three senators and House of Representatives members elected on the platform of the PDP in Plateau state.
The 16 lawmakers in the Plateau state house of assembly were also sacked for the same reason.
Justice Waziri explains why PDP lawmakers were sacked
Justice Waziri said:
“Some people may say it was a pre-election, agreed. On issues of qualification, elections can be both pre and post-election matters depending on what you may understand as qualification. The issue in Plateau State is not a pre-election matter per say.
“There was a subsisting court order given by the Plateau State High Court that PDP should go and have their congresses on that day. They flouted they order of that court, they appealed to the Court of Appeal, they could repeal the decision of the lower court, they file an appeal to the Supreme Court, they failed to pursue the appeal and that appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
“So, the matter as it stood at that time is that they had no structures on ground. So, any candidate they have fielded would have no place to stand in the eyes of the law, so that is what happened.”
