Supreme Court Verdict and the Injustice to Plateau PDP Legislators

Following the Friday’s judgment of the Supreme Court reaffirming that Election Petitions Tribunals and Court of Appeal have no jurisdiction to entertain pre-election matters, Seriki Adinoyi writes on the need for the judgments that sacked federal and state lawmakers in Plateau State over pre-election issues to be reviewed in the interest of justice 

It is no longer news that the Supreme Court on Friday overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal which sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State.

Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner of the governorship election that was held on March 18, 2023, after he polled a total of 525,299 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Dr. Nentawe Yilwadta of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who got 481,370 votes.

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Plateau State had also affirmed the election of the governor. But in a curious twist, a panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu,  in a unanimous decision in November 2023 ruled that Muftwang was not validly sponsored by the PDP because the party has no structure. The court therefore nullified his election and declared the candidate of the APC, Yilwatda as the governor of the state.

In what seemed like a grand plot by the Court of Appeal to return the state to the APC, the appellate court also nullified the victories of nearly all the candidates of the PDP that were elected into the state and National Assembly on the same ground of alleged invalid nomination, which was obviously a pre-election matter.

Expectedly, the PDP and legal experts had cried foul and described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice, not only on the grounds that the matter was a pre-election matter, which falls outside the jurisdiction of the Election Petition Tribunal but also because the party truly has a valid and solid structure. The PDP went further to argue that by its constitution, candidates are nominated by the National Working Committee (NWC), and not the State Working Committee (SWC), insisting that on that ground, its candidates were validly nominated. It also said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored its congresses and affirmed that they were duly conducted.

The PDP alleged that the Court of Appeal might have been compromised, and warned that such was dangerous for Nigeria’s nascent democracy.

The decision of the Court of Appeal prompted Muftwang to approach the Supreme Court. The apex court did not surprise legal experts when Justice Emmanuel Agim who read the lead judgment, noted that the APC’s contention that the appellant was not qualified to contest the election because of non-compliance with the electoral law was faulty.

Justice 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. Yilwatda of the APC has no right to challenge the emergence of Governor Mutfwang as a ticket-holder of the PDP.”

He said that the Court of Appeal had anchored its decision sacking the governor on the alleged failure of the PDP to comply with an order of the Plateau State High Court to conduct fresh congresses before holding primary elections for nomination of its candidates for the 2023 general election. The apex court held that the order of the High Court had nothing to do with the party’s power to conduct primaries for the Plateau PDP as it did to nominate Mutfwang as its candidate for the governorship election.

Justice Agim ruled that despite that, there is evidence showing that the order of the Plateau State High Court was complied with by the party.

“Can the tribunal and the Court of Appeal determine the validity of the nomination of a candidate?” he queried. 

Justice Agim declared that, “The order of the High Court of Plateau State had nothing to do with the power of NEC of the PDP; it is a jurisdictional matter.”

He said that for these reasons, “this appeal is allowed. The judgment of the Court of Appeal is set aside, inclusive of the orders made therein. The judgment of the tribunal is restored. The election of the governor is further restored.”

In his consenting decision, Justice Inyang Okoro who headed the five-member panel, said: “My only worry is that a lot of people have suffered as a result of the Court of Appeal’s decision. It was absolutely wrong. The appeal is allowed.”

Justice Okoro was apparently referring to the state and federal legislators sacked by the Court of Appeal in a similar miscarriage of justice.

Also consenting, Justice Helen Ogunwunmiju, said: “It was very wrong for the Court of Appeal to go into the issue of party congresses. To make matters worse, the party challenging the issue is another political party.”

She added that the Court of Appeal made a fundamental error by shifting the burden of proof on Governor Mutfwang.

Justice Adamu Jauro also agreed with the judgment.

The apex court’s judgment caused a sporadic excitement in Jos, the state capital, as the entire state marched on the streets of Jos to celebrate the victory of the governor. The people literally shut down Jos, the state capital as commercial vehicles and motorcycles abandoned their duty posts to join the convoys of PDP supporters in driving around the city in jubilation.

But the big question is: What now happens to other candidates of the PDP who had suffered a miscarriage of justice in the hands of the Court of Appeal, but who do not have the opportunity to take their appeals to the Supreme Court?

The PDP national and state assembly members in the state fall into this category. For instance, Senator Napoleon Bali’s victory was nullified and handed freely to Senator Simon Lalong on a platter of gold; the former Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkon’s victory was annulled and the senatorial zone ordered to go back for another election.

Hon Beni Lar, Musa Bagos, Musa Agah, and many others were also affected by the miscarriage of justice of the Court of Appeal on the ground of invalid nomination

Reacting to the victory of the PDP and discussing the way forward, a former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, in a statement signed by his media consultant, Mr. Clinton Garuba, said: “As sad as it is, the damage that has been done to Plateau by the miscarriage of justice at the Court of Appeal is of great proportion because the kind of judgments that were delivered by the court have robbed the people of their rightful representation both at the state and the National Assembly. But all hope is not lost.

“The good people of Plateau State through the government of Plateau State and the PDP have already petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review all the judgments involving Plateau State that were delivered by the Court of Appeal which effectively stopped those that have been elected into the national and the state of assemblies from representing their constituencies.

“We thank Plateau people for their vigilance; for trooping out in their hundreds and thousands in condemnation and resistance after the miscarriage of justice by the Court of Appeal. They all came out to lend their voice against the injustice. We salute your resilience.

“With the Supreme Court’s judgment, it has become an abnormality for them to remain as legislators when they could not win elections at the poll; this should not be allowed to stand. The authorities must give back to the people their true representatives and restore their mandate.”

He, however, thanked the justices of the Supreme Court “for upholding the Rule of Law, thereby affirming the long-held belief that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. 

“We thank them for not allowing themselves to be manipulated because we are aware that the same forces of darkness, in their usual manner, had wanted to thwart the mandate of the people, plunge the state into disarray, and set us years backwards.” 

Also speaking on the nullified elections of member of the national and state assemblies elected on the platform of the PDP over same issues that were thrown out by the Supreme Court, Governor Mutfwang said: “We have just crossed the bridge and when we settle down to savour this victory, we will know what to do.”

He, however thanked their lordships at the Supreme Court for restoring confidence in the judiciary, and President Bola Tinubu for showing himself as a true democrat and not allowing the political space to become intoxicated.