THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum believes that the Supreme Court will uphold justice over the dismissal of Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal by the appeal court.
The PDP governors stated today during a meeting in Abuja, that the two verdicts by the appellate court which dismissed two of their members last week is a “temporary setbacks”
The meeting today was held at the Abuja residence of Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, who was joined by six other governors, some of whom were represented by their deputies.
In a communique issued at the end of their deliberations, the opposition governors said, “The meeting reviewed the recent judgments of the Court of Appeal concerning Governors of various States and noted the mixed outcomes.
“As a Forum, we once again re-state our overall confidence in the judiciary to do justice.
“We believe that the Supreme Court will do justice in the cases where we recorded temporary setbacks like Zamfara and Plateau States.”
Speaking about the off-season elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states, the PDP governors “support the decision of INEC to investigate the allegation of existence of pre-filled result sheets even before elections started in some places to ensure the confidence of the people in the electoral process”.
The appellate court fired three governors who were declared winners in the March 2023 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The three governors ousted by the appellate court are all members of opposition parties, raising suspicions that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is using the courts to combat opposition parties, though the APC has refuted such charges.
The court fired Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and declared Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election.
In Zamfara, the appeal court fired the PDP’s Lawal after declaring the election inconclusive eight months later.
The court also ordered INEC to hold new elections in three of the state’s local government districts. The main contestants in the race are PDP’s Lawal and APC’s Bello Matawalle.
On Sunday, the appellate court fired Mutfwang of the PDP and directed INEC to provide a Certificate of Return to Nentawe Goshwe of the APC. The court ruled that the party had breached the court’s direction that a legal congress be convened in each of the state’s 17 local government area.
However, the appeal court upheld the elections of APC governors including as Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos, Abdullahi Sule in Nasarawa, Inuwa Yahaya in Gombe, and Bassey Otu in Cross River.
