The Speaker of Plateau state House of Assembly, Rt Hon Gabriel Dawang, this morning yes stepped down the swearing in of the 16 lawmakers whose election victories were affirmed by the court of Appeal in Lagos.
The swearing which was scheduled to take place today was halted after the 16 sacked lawmakers of the PDP stormed the state House of Assembly with their supporters in a bid to resume sitting as House of Assembly members following the Supreme Court verdict on the Governorship appeal brought before it by the state Governor Caleb Mutfwang seeking to reverse the judgement of the appeal which sacked him from office because the party has no Structure in place in the state with the Judgement of the High court which sacked the leadership of the party in the state and the Judgement was never applied which led to the mass sacking of PDP members in the national and state House of Assembly.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to determine the validity of the candidacy of the PDP.
Supreme Court justice said the order of the High Court had nothing to do with the party’s power to conduct a primary election, as it did to nominate Governor Mutfwang as its candidate for the governorship election.
On this ground the sacked 16 members of the house are seeking to continue their legislative duties.
The Speaker stated that they cannot permit the sacked members’ entry as they have entrusted the interpretation of the law to the judiciary. Similarly, the swearing-in of the APC lawmakers is deferred until the courts provide approval.
Therefore, we await the court’s decision, and whatever the court decides will be adhered to. The former speaker is seen addressing the dismissed lawmakers outside, advising them not to lose hope just yet. The lawmakers are leaving as the Majority Leader concurs with the Speaker, asserting that the law will follow its due course.
