The Court of Appeal’s Justice Abdulaziz Waziri has provided an explanation of the ruling that resulted in the dismissal of Plateau State PDP lawmakers in both the national and state assemblies, as well as Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
Speaking on Tuesday, December 12, at the 2023 Law Week in Yola, the state capital of Adamawa, the judge claimed that people who are criticizing the court’s decision are missing the mark.
He insisted that at the time of the candidates’ presentations, the PDP had no formal party organization. The judge insisted that the lawsuit against the PDP in Plateau State was not a pre-election matter because he was a part of the panel that made the decision.
Justice Waziri said: “Some people may say it was a pre-election, agreed. On issues of qualification, elections can be both pre and post-election matters depending on what you may understand as qualification. The issue in Plateau State is not a pre-election matter per say.
“There was a subsisting court order given by the Plateau State High Court that PDP should go and have their congresses on that day. They flouted they order of that court, they appealed to the Court of Appeal, they could repeal the decision of the lower court, they file an appeal to the Supreme Court, they failed to pursue the appeal and that appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
“So, the matter as it stood at that time is that they had no structures on ground. So, any candidate they have fielded would have no place to stand in the eyes of the law, so that is what happened.”
