Sixteen Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House Of Assembly lawmakers that were sacked in Plateau State have received fresh appointments from the state governor, Caleb Mutfwang.
The Governor appointed them as liaison officers for their respective constituencies.
The 16 lawmakers lost their seats in November 2023 following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which held that their party (PDP) was not qualified to sponsor candidates in an election.
But since the Supreme Court set aside a similar judgment against Governor Mutfwang, the sacked lawmakers have vowed to reclaim their seats by seeking a judicial review of the decision against them.
They also stormed the Plateau State House of Assembly in January but their move was, however, resisted by the lawmakers who benefited from the court ruling.
Lastweek, the appellate court dismissed the suit by the lawmakers and fined them a combined N128 million for instituting a frivolous suit to waste the court’s time.
The affected ex-lawmakers have now been appointed by Governor Mutfwang and sworn in on Monday.
Despite the Appeal Court’s decision last week and their appointment as liaison officers, the PDP lawmakers said they are still pursuing their case, arguing that the court has not ruled on their case.
Timothy Dantong, who represented Riyom constituency and is one of the affected PDP lawmakers, stated, “The judgment of the Appeal Court is being misinterpreted. It was a day for a hearing, and our lawyer did not present the case on that day.
“There was an application for an extension of time. The issue of reviewing our case was not even brought before the court that day. When our lawyer realised that it was a three-man panel instead of a five-man panel, he said he was not going to present the matter before a three-man panel because the constitution is very clear about it. And in every reviewed case, there is a five-man panel. He told the panel that he had written to the President of the Court of Appeal and requested the five-man panel as it is in the constitution.
“The judges were annoyed and decided to slam the fine on him for wasting their time. And the news was carried around that the case had been dismissed. The case wasn’t even heard in the first place; talk less of dismissing it. We are coming up with the case very strongly. We are hoping that the CTC of the governorship (Supreme Court decision) will be ready to be included in the case because the case has not been heard at all,”
Dantong explained.
