APC, PDP in war of words after Appeal Court fires third opposition gov

Following the dismissal of Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) engaged in a heated dispute on Sunday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was directed by a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Elphreda Williams-Dawodu, to withdraw the certificate of return granted to Mutfwang and provide a new one to APC candidate Nentawe Goshwe, who the court recognised as the legitimate victor of the March 18 governorship election.

In the span of three days, Mutfwang became the third opposition governor to be dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Last Thursday, the appellate court nullified the election of another PDP Governor, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, declaring that the governorship election in the state was inconclusive.

The next day, Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano State and member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, had his election as governor declared illegitimate by the same court.

The PDP’s deputy legal adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha, reacting to the developments in a statement on Sunday, expressed concern about the repeated legal setbacks experienced by its governors and MPs, stating that the latest rulings from the courts did not follow the law.

Osuoha, who said he did not have a copy of the judgment yet explained that there were three grounds for the election petition matter.

He said, “One is that when somebody is claiming that he won an election with the most number of valid votes, the person will have to prove it. The second is malpractice; the person who alleged would have to prove it.

“Then qualification; whether the person was qualified or not. So these are the grounds. It is in the public domain that Nigerians and PDP are not too comfortable with judgment from the courts.

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“In the ruling party, APC, impunity is so much. They try to influence some of these institutions to force their party on Nigerians. That is the ugly side of it.”

However, APC Director of Publicity Bala Ibrahim also in a statement retorted that those accusing the APC and the Presidency of attempting to create a one-party state in Nigeria were ignorant of the workings of the legal system.

He said, “Nobody is turning Nigeria into a one-party state. These are some of the baseless allegations coming from people who don’t know how the system works. The judiciary is independent.

“There is just no way any arm or the executive can intimidate or make the judiciary act against its own wish. People are not applying their logic sensibly.

“There are areas where the ruling party has lost and we have castigated, lambasted or cast aspersion on the judiciary. We know the judiciary may have their reason to take the decision against us.

“That is not to say people should think it is the executive that is manipulating the judiciary every time we win.

“People should learn to be good sportsmen. Where you lose today, you may win tomorrow. We should have confidence in the system, ourselves and democracy.

“As long as we continue to be selective in our assessment of the system, we will always get it wrong. We should allow the judiciary to work with the psyche of independence and continue to encourage the system to strengthen democracy. Let us not be judgmentally selective.”