Written by:
Barr. Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin
Former Speaker Adamawa State House Of Assemby & Immediate Past Federal House Of Representative Member from Adamawa State.
The case of Zamfara state APC in 2019 is similar to the case of Plateau state PDP in 2023. But they are not the same save in the consequence of the problem which is that both parties lose all their seats to the party with second highest number of votes in the elections.
In Zamfara state, a high court ordered APC to go and conduct PROPER PRIMARIES in 2019 to elect candidates who would contest the general election, but the Governor stubbornly refused. In Plateau state, the PDP was equally ordered by a court to go and conduct PROPER CONGRESSES to elect executives and delegates that will elect candidates who would contest the general elections with candidates of other parties, but the PDP stubbornly refused. So you can see the issues that caused the problem are not the same. Zamfara was ordered to conduct PROPER PRIMARIES, Plateau was ordered to conduct PROPER CONGRESSES.
In both states, what the parties did was the same. Refusal to carry out a simple court order. Interestingly, the effect of the two refusals to obey the court orders are the same – sacking of all candidates that won the elections. This is what many people, including some lawyers, fail to understand.
In Zamfara state in 2019, APC’s refusal to conduct PROPER PRIMARIES (to be supervised by INEC) to elect candidates for the general elections, gave all the seats won by the APC to the PDP as the party that had the second highest number of votes in the elections.
What happened in Plateau state was that in the year 2020, in the case of Bitrus Kaze & ors v PDP suit no. PLD/J304/2020, the Plateau state high court had after taking evidence from witnesses, ordered the PDP to simply go and conduct PROPER CONGRESSES to elect executives and delegates that would elect candidates who would contest the general elections.
The party did not appeal against this judgement which sacked the then PDP excos and ordered the party to conduct fresh congresses, nor did the party conducted primaries as ordered. That was why, if you may recall, the Plateau State Electoral Commission, PLASEIC, barred the PDP from participating in the October 21 local government elections which APC won all the seats including that of councilors. There was no insult that this country did not heap on governor Along as a result.
Yet, in 2023, and without appealing this judgement nor conducting fresh congresses to elect excos and delegates, the PDP presented names of their ‘candidates’ for the 2023 general elections and won the sate convincingly despite protest from the APC and LP.
What is the argument of the PDP? The argument of the PDP is that since the Electoral Act has provided that no party or candidate of any party has the locus standi to question the legality of another party’s primary elections, the APC,LP and the PRP cannot challenge the legality of PDP’s primary election.
Yes, this is the correct position of the law. But the APC,LP and the PRP did not challenge the conduct of PDP’s PRIMARY ELECTIONS. What the APC,LP and PRP challenged, is that the PDP did not appeal the 2020 state high court judgement that directed the party to go and conduct PROPER CONGRESSES to produce DELEGATES that would elect CANDIDATES to contest the 2023 general elections with other parties. In other words what APC,LP and PRP challenged was CONGRESSES not PDP party PRIMARIES. Ina fata kun fahimta. This argument, simple as it is, was not understood even by some lawyers.
The second reason apart from failure to obey a simple order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction in 2020, the provision of section 223(1) (a) and (2) (a) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which is in respect of Rules and Constitution of political parties has automatically barred the PDP from presenting candidates for the 2023 general elections. The section says –
“S. 223(1) a political party shall-
(a) provide for the periodical election on a democratic basis of the principal officers and members of the executive committee or other governing body of the political party; and
(2) For the purposes of this section –
(a) the election of the officers or members of the executive committee of a political party shall be deemed to be periodical only if it is made at regular intervals not exceeding four years.”
The PDP has not done since 2020. By this section of the constitution therefore, it is clear as day light that by refusing to conduct congresses, it means the PDP has no existing executives in Plateau state since the court had invalidated the election of the former excos in 2020 and the party did not appeal the judgement nor complied with the order.
For me, there cannot be valid primaries without valid congresses.
AS PLATEAU STANDS TODAY
- SENATE
With the court of appeal verdict on Tuesday last week that upheld the election of Simon Lalong, APC has 2 senators in Plateau state. And with the nullification of Sen. Simon Mwadkwon’s election and order for a re-run which will obviously be done without him, all the 3 senators from the state would be APC.
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Plateau has 8 House of Reps. members. Three 3 members – Ahmed Idris Wase, (Wase Federal Constituency), Yusuf Gagdi (Pankshin/
Kanke/Kanam) and Hon. Lalu (for Mangu/Bokkos) were elected APC members.
Out of the five (5) members remaining, the Court of Appeal has declared 1 seat as having been won by PRP, the seat for Jos North and Bassa will go for re-run, (which will of course exclude PDP). This leaves 3 more members.
Out of the three (3) members that remains, hearing in their cases will commence today. I think the outcome can be predictable since the seats were won by PDP which the appeal court has decided in the previous cases that it has no structure in Plateau state.
- STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
Plateau House of Assembly has 24 members. PDP had won 15, APC 8, YPP 1. All the 15 PDP members have been sued either by APC or by LP or by both, and hearing will commence in the cases today Saturday. To which party verdict would go to, is as sure as saying 25th of every December is Christmas.
- GOVERNOR
If PDP loses all the senators, all eight members Reps and members of state Assembly for the same reason of not having a structure capable of sponsoring a candidate, then there is no need to doubt what will happen to the governor in the Court of Appeal or in the Supreme Court, should he decide to go to the apex court.
As it stands today, the PDP has nothing in Plateau state.The party’s candidates, as far as the law is concerned, have
contested the 2023 elections as if they were independent candidates since they have no structure to conduct primaries in the state. Therefore since our constitution does not recognize independent candidature, the PDP in 2023 Plateau is like the APC in 2019 Zamfara state.
Regrettably a lady who has attained her enviable position through hard work and perseverance is being insulted by those who refused to do the right thing since 2020. When I Googled her name I found out that this lady, the President of the Court of Appeal, HON. JUSTICE MONICA BOLNA’AN DONGBAN-MENSEM, who is from Plateau state, became a lawyer in 1980 during the regime of President Shehu Shagari when I was in secondary school. But last week I saw a write up on social media where a young man insulted her person and, by implication, labeled her an APC agent just because the Court of Appeal has said that PDP has disobeyed an order made by a court of competent jurisdiction in 2020. What is the fault of this woman here?
I weep for my country!
COPIED.
