The Plateau State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress APC has tongue-lash the People’s Democratic Party PDP kind of choosing which judgement to obey and which one to disrespect.
The party made the claim in a press conference which held today 15th September 2023 at the State Secretariat Kalwa House Jos and was read by Hon. Sylvanus Namang the State Publicity Secretary.
Hon. Namang stated that attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Plateau State Chapter has been drawn to some reckless press statements by the Plateau State Chapter of the PDP and obviously State-sponsored protests aimed at distracting and diverting attention by whipping up ill-motivated sentiments against Judges of the Election Petitions Tribunal in the State.
That these are coming in the wake of the fair, firm and just pronouncements of the First Tribunal, which declared some APC and LP National Assembly candidates victorious, smacks of sheer mischief and blackmail.
We are thus compelled, as bona fide citizens of Plateau State, to react to these spurious allegations and feeble bravados and vituperations by a pack of self-serving individuals and groups whose desperation for power has reached high pitch.
We cannot shy away from reacting to the unfolding political developments in view of the fact that some leaders of our Party are being blackmailed as a deliberate means of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
We hasten to remark here that the unconscionable press statements and protests are regular pastime of these known enemies of peace and democracy in the State. On the whole, their premeditated and pre-emptive actions are a crass exhibition of unnecessary apprehension and prejudice!
The PDP which is obviously behind these ugly developments is disreputed for its hypocritical posture of playing the religious and ethnic card in causing disaffection and nauseating division within the ranks of unsuspecting citizens of the State.
Nothing can be more divisive than its recent allegation that these respected and peace-loving leaders of our great Party are interfering with the activities of the high-heeled Tribunals even when opposite is the case. This amounts to crying wolf where there is none!
However, it is important to state that before the Justice B.M. Tukur-led Tribunals meticulous, fair and just pronouncements, there were previous judgments by the Second Tribunal presided over by Justice Rotimi Williams who ruled against the APC and Labour Party in spite of overwhelming evidence and established position of the law.
Interestingly, in our usual propensity for respect of Court Orders and judicial decisions, though dissatisfied with the judgments, we accepted them in good faith without raising any dust, but preferring instead, to appeal such judgments at the Appeal Tribunal as constitutionally stipulated.
No doubt, it is a shame that the PDP-led Government in the State, as a pre-emptive move and organised mischief is involved in mobilizing hoodlums to harass and intimidate Tribunal judges ahead of the remaining judgments.
And further read as follows: TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS PLATEAU STATE CHAPTER HELD AT THE PARTY’S STATE SECRETARIAT, KALWA HOUSE ON FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER, 2023.
VICTORY OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) AT THE NATIONAL AND STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTION PETITIONS TRIBUNAL: A PRODUCT OF FAIR, JUST AND SOUND JUDICIAL VERDICTS.
The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Plateau State Chapter has been drawn to some reckless press statements by the Plateau State Chapter of the PDP and obviously State-sponsored protests aimed at distracting and diverting attention by whipping up ill-motivated sentiments against Judges of the Election Petitions Tribunal in the State.
That these are coming in the wake of the fair, firm and just pronouncements of the First Tribunal, which declared some APC and LP National Assembly candidates victorious, smacks of sheer mischief and blackmail.
We are thus compelled, as bona fide citizens of Plateau State, to react to these spurious allegations and feeble bravados and vituperations by a pack of self-serving individuals and groups whose desperation for power has reached high pitch.
We cannot shy away from reacting to the unfolding political developments in view of the fact that some leaders of our Party are being blackmailed as a deliberate means of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
We hasten to remark here that the unconscionable press statements and protests are regular pastime of these known enemies of peace and democracy in the State. On the whole, their premeditated and pre-emptive actions are a crass exhibition of unnecessary apprehension and prejudice!
The PDP which is obviously behind these ugly developments is disreputed for its hypocritical posture of playing the religious and ethnic card in causing disaffection and nauseating division within the ranks of unsuspecting citizens of the State.
Nothing can be more divisive than its recent allegation that these respected and peace-loving leaders of our great Party are interfering with the activities of the high-heeled Tribunals even when opposite is the case. This amounts to crying wolf where there is none!
However, it is important to state that before the Justice B.M. Tukur-led Tribunals meticulous, fair and just pronouncements, there were previous judgments by the Second Tribunal presided over by Justice Rotimi Williams who ruled against the APC and Labour Party in spite of overwhelming evidence and established position of the law.
Interestingly, in our usual propensity for respect of Court Orders and judicial decisions, though dissatisfied with the judgments, we accepted them in good faith without raising any dust, but preferring instead, to appeal such judgments at the Appeal Tribunal as constitutionally stipulated.
No doubt, it is a shame that the PDP-led Government in the State, as a pre-emptive move and organised mischief is involved in mobilizing hoodlums to harass and intimidate Tribunal judges ahead of the remaining judgments.
In particular, the sponsored protest of yesterday Thursday 14th September, 2023 in Jos by a faceless and self-styled pro-democracy group which calls itself Coalition of Ethnic Youths under the leadership of one Habila Gamji, is simply another crude means of gagging and blackmailing the judiciary and cajoling the judges to abdicate their constitutional responsibilities.
They have even gone further to begin mobilization of their supporters to assemble at the premises of the Jos High Court on the day the Governorship election petition would be disposed of. These are rather a design by a pack of anti-democratic forces hired to truncate our democracy.
We however, thank the authentic Coalition of Plateau Indigenous Ethnic Youth Groups which has, through a press statement of September 14th 2023, signed by its P.R.O Dama Simon Yonmi and Comrade Dekete Paul (for Chairman), dissociated itself from the said protest. This is a further vindication of our position that the protest is ill-conceived.
It is also, indeed, senseless in this democratic clime that the PDP, with its well-known bad democratic credentials, is already choosing which judgment to obey and which one to disrespect. This is much apart from the folly displayed here with the sole aim of scaring the learned Justices from discharging their mandates!
The invariably sinister posture of the PDP and the Plateau State Government is not any different from the earlier sponsored “All Eyes on the Judiciary” protests which featured ahead of the 6th September, 2023 pronouncement of the Presidential Election Petition Court. It is a fact that protests and demonstrations do not give justice; on points of law, only facts and evidence give justice.
It is our candid opinion that heaven will certainly not fall if the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal decides in favour of the APC against the irritant PDP. The demonising and insinuations against the APC should therefore stop forthwith. After all, the PDP’s dismal performance in governance for the past three months is not anything to cheer.
It is most lamentable that a Government which came to power under the mantra of a so-called and deceptive green movement would arbitrarily demolish democratic structures like the elected Local Government Councils under the guise of a trumped-up and sweeping corruption allegations which it has not been able to prove.
Furthermore, the same administration has contemptuously refused to respect Court injunction which ordered it to maintain status quo and allow the elected Local Government officials to function pending the determination of the case between the State Government and the Chairmen.
The illegal appointment of so- called Transition Implementation Committee Chairmen to replace the elected Chairmen has led to very avoidable crises including the dragging of the Inspector General of Police to court for opening the offices for the elected Chairmen to function, a development which has ostensibly pitched the State Government against the Federal Government which it has been rushing to cap-in-hand.
Nothing can be more threatening to democracy than when political parties and Government which are supposed to be guardians of democratic norms embark on sponsoring ill-motivated protests against judicial decisions and judgments.
While calling on the Tribunal Judges to remain resilient, focused and committed to their responsibility of dispensing law and justice, we assure them that nothing untoward will emanate from all law-abiding members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State and well meaning Plateau citizens.
We wish to further affirm that as firm believers in constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law, we shall do everything possible to ensure that justice takes its full course. Against this backdrop, we strongly advise the PDP to seek redress at the Court of Appeal if it feels dissatisfied with any judicial outcome.
Finally, we call on the Federal Government and security agencies to quickly intervene in the current attempt to plunge the State into another needless and avoidable cycle of violence and mayhem by especially arresting the ringleaders and perpetrators of these induced protests.
Our hard-earned democracy should not be allowed to be sacrificed on the altar of bad politicking by some desperate and selfish politicians such as the ones we are witnessing in our present clime.
We also call on well-meaning citizens of this great State to discountenance the antics of desperate politicians who resort to whipping up ethnic and religious sentiments to cause confusion and generate bad blood amongst its peace-loving citizens.
Signed:
Hon. Sylvanus Namang,
APC State Publicity Secretary
