APC Chieftain Accuses Plateau Governor Of Attempt To Strangulate Legislature

LAGOS – Mr. Bitrus Shaina, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State, has accused Mr. Caleb Mutfwang, the State Governor of attempting to strangulate the State Assembly, while also destroying the party.

Shaina who was also a member of the Asiwaju Tinubu/Shetima Professional Forum, alleged that the State Governor who is a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was frustrating all moves to inaugurate APC lawmakers in the state despite the judgment of Appeal Court, which declared them the winners of the State Assembly elections in the 2023 general elections.

The APC chieftain in a statement to journalists on Wednesday, noted that the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had in November 2023, nullified the elections of all the PDP lawmakers in Plateau State on the ground that the party on which platform they ran for elections lacked the structure to sponsor candidates in the elections.

He recalled that prior to that the same Appeal Court had given judgement on National Assembly elections and had equally sacked all the federal legislators elected on the platform of the PDP and ordered that certificates of return be withdrawn from them and issued to the first runners up in the elections with the APC and Labour Party candidates as beneficiaries.

Shaina emphasised that while the National Assembly had complied with the court’s directives and the APC, LP and Action Democratic Party (ADP) candidates, had since been inaugurated at both chambers of the National Assembly, the same could not be said of state legislators in Plateau.

He purported that Mutfwang was frustrating all moves to inaugurate the house by shutting down the state assembly complex and relocated it to his official residence at the Government House.

The statement added: “Seeing that the 16 who have been issued their certificates of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are mainly of the opposition APC, the Governor commenced using his office to try to asphyxiate the legislative arm of government and weaken the APC purely for partisan and selfish interests.

“According to APC stalwarts, it is obvious that Mutfwang does not care of the threat this constitutes in a democracy, where the legislative arm of government is crucial to maintaining checks and balance as well as make laws for the good governance of the state.

“Hence, for well over three months now, the governor has been running the show like a military administrator, using his handpicked Speaker, Gabriel Dewan to continue the anomaly of endless postponement of the resumption of the House.”

Shaina explained that the refusal to inaugurate the state assembly members was already creating tension in the state, adding that the 24 state constituencies were suffering lack of representation as enshrined in the law, portraying the state in bad light.

He alleged that the sacked PDP lawmakers had taken advantage of the lacuna to demand that they be returned to their seats against the order of the court, hinging their argument on the Supreme Court judgement affirming the election of Mutfwang as the state governor.
He posited that the sacked PDP members used the delay to explore the legal angle, their case suffered a huge setback, as the application was dismissed for lacking in merit.

He explained that the Speaker had also declared that he recognised only seven members of the assembly immediately after the Supreme Court declared Mutfwang as Governor of Plateau State on January 12, 2023.

The speaker insisted that he only recognised the 16 members elected after the court must have interpreted the judgement of the Appeal Court.

“Having failed to get a favourable judgment, the sacked PDP members attempted to forcefully enter the House, but were prevented by the police leading to a fracas, which nearly sparked another round of crisis in the state.

“The grand plan by the governor is to continue using the Speaker to shift reconvening the House to avoid inauguration of the 16 members, so he can continue his reign as sole administrator in perpetuity,” he added.