PDP Petitions NJC Over Appeal Court Ruling Ousting Plateau Lawmakers

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sent a petition to the National Judicial Council NJC) and Federal Judicial Service Commission (FSJC) over the sack of its members in the Senate, House of Representatives, and Plateau State House of Assembly by the Court of Appeal last year.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had on November 2023 sacked all 16 members of PDP in the Plateau State House of Assembly for pre-election matters bordering on alleged disobedience of court order and lack of political structure.

Before then, the appeal court had sacked four PDP members of the House of Representatives from the state and two senators.

But the Supreme Court, last Friday, berated the ruling of the appellate court for sacking the PDP lawmakers, saying that a lot of people have suffered as a result of the decision.

Justice Inyang Okoro, who headed the five-member panel of the Supreme Court that reversed the sack of Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, said the issue of nomination is exclusively the internal affairs of a political party.

Speaking with This Day over the weekend, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the party had resolved to petition the relevant institutions in the federal judiciary to review the Court of Appeal’s decisions.

Abdullahi stated that the party regards the appeal court’s decision as an injustice against the 16 lawmakers from Plateau State.

He said, “Certainly, yes, we have already commenced efforts in that regard. This is because what the Supreme Court justices did was an indictment on the Justices of the Court of Appeal.

“We have always maintained that line of argument. We are going to seek redress from the members of parliament concerned. Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly. The redress will focus on their respective offices.”

The affected PDP National Assembly members included the former Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkon; Senator Napoleon Bali; Hon. Beni Lar, Hon. Musa Bagos, and Hon. Musa Agah.