…Says Judiciary upturning people’s will
Ahead of an Appeal Court reserved judgement on victory of Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, a group, under aegis of Forum for Justice and Good Governance, (FJGG), has cautioned the judiciary against upturning the victory of democratically elected candidates, saying such judgements amount to upturning people’s will.
According to the group, the situation where the electorate happily trooped out to vote a candidate of their choice during the concluded 2023 general elections and the court later upturned such popular victory in favour of another candidate is not only undemocratic, but also unacceptable.
“We believe strongly that democracy anywhere is about the majority of the people and it should reflect so in any electoral process,” it stated.
The group, which issued the warning in a press statement signed by Comrade Daniel Gowong, expressed worry over the recent verdict delivered by the Appeal Court in the National Assembly election cases in Plateau State.
It said, “The idea of Election Petition Tribunal nullifying election on the grounds that the PDP candidates in Plateau State did not have a proper party structure and therefore could not file candidates for the elections are pre-election matters; that should not hold water at the Appeal Court”.
While describing what happened in the State as insensitive and may not reflect the will of the people, the group observed, “The Appeal Court entering pre-election matters at this point in time is not fair to the people and could deemed as miscarriage of justice.
“For us, these are clear cases of rape of our democracy, and any well-meaning Nigerian must reject it in all its ramification.
However, the group said the judiciary remains the last hope of the masses, stating that: “We would be happy to join people of Plateau State, if the Appeal Court will dismiss the baseless allegations and affirm Mutfwang’s victory which reflected the peoples will, as declared by INEC”.
