Following the pronouncement of the Supreme Court affirming Governor Caleb Mutfwang as the governor of Plateau State yesterday, there was jubilation across the length and breadth of the state as citizens and party supporters trooped out in thousands to celebrate.
While going around Jos, the state capital, people hurriedly closed their premises to join the celebration. There were heavy traffic gridlocks along major roads such as Airport Junction, Ahmadu Bello Way, and Zawan Junction, among others, due to the jubilation.
Immediately after the news of the governor’s victory at the Supreme Court filtered into the State, the apparent tension that enveloped the air suddenly disappeared. Party supporters and other admirers of Governor Mutfwang trooped into the streets.
In his reaction to the judgement, the former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, said the governor’s victory at the Supreme Court was a triumph for democracy and against the wishes of anti-democratic forces.
The former governor, in a statement signed by his media consultant, Comrade Clinton Garuba, recalled with sadness how anti-democratic forces tried as much as possible to manipulate the will of the people without success.
He thanked the Plateau people for their vigilance and for trooping out in their hundreds and thousands in condemnation and resistance after the miscarriage of justice by the Court of Appeal, adding that they all came out to lend their voice against the injustice. “We salute your resilience”, he stated.
The former governor said the people of Plateau State, through the government of Plateau State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review all the judgments involving Plateau State which were delivered by the Court of Appeal, effectively stopping those who have been elected to the National and State Houses of Assembly from representing their constituencies.
According to him, with the Supreme Court judgment, it has become abnormal for them to remain as legislators when they could not win elections at the polls; saying this should not be allowed to stand.
