Bagos, Lar rejects Tribunal verdicts heads for appeal
…Say, Ruling Was An Aberration, Miscarriage Of Justice
Two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the House of Representatives from Plateau State, Dachung Musa Bagos, representing Jos South/Jos East federal Constituency and Beni Lar representing Langtang North/South federal constiuency have vowed to challenge the Elections Tribunal that voided their elections.
In separate statements on Wednesday, the lawmakers rejected the ruling of the Tribunal calling it a travesty of justice and vowed to appeal the judgements.
In his statement, Bagos vowed to challenge the Election Tribunal judgement against his nomination and election during the 2023 general elections.
He said, the Tribunal’s verdict was against the law as the case brought before it was a pre-election which it has no jurisdiction over.
He said, “The outcome of the Election Tribunal against the mandate of the good people of Jos South, Jos East Federal Constituency raises a lot of questions, can a mandate with an overwhelming winning vote of over 95,000 against 31,000 be a mere academic exercise?
“It clearly shows that the wishes of the people don’t really matter for reasons of unfounded interests.
“Previous tribunal judgements have held that only party members or the party itself have the locus standi to challenge the nomination and sponsorship of a candidate.
“Furthermore, such issues are pre-election matters, I can’t help but wonder why this panel thought differently”.
Bagos called on his constituents and party faithfuls to remain calm as he seeks redress in the Court Of Appeal adding that, “The PDP had since complied”.
On her part, Lar stated that, the decision by Justice Mohammed Tukur was an aberration and departure from the Law.
She added that, the Tribunal ruling was also a clear case of miscarriage of justice and an abuse of the judicial system of precedence.
Lar said, “It holds no substance and must be condemned on all fronts. It is rather ridiculous that the ruling of his Lordship is grossly contradictory to that of it’s counterpart panel 2 on the same issue. Same matter, same parties, same state, but different decisions from courts of Coordinate jurisdiction. This is unimaginable!
“The Tribunal whilst upholding the argument of the Petitioner held that my nomination and candidacy was invalidly sponsored by my party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) thus upturning my victory.
“The election which held on the 25th February, 2023, was contested by several parties, the top 3 candidates from the PDP, APC and SDP respectively amongst which were, my humble self with a land sliding victory by 42, 008 votes, defeating the APC’s Vincent Bulus who gained about 21,345 votes and the SDP’s Solomon Dalung with 3,369 votes.
“The popular question thus on everybody’s mind is whether the PDP has complied with Hon. Justice SP Gang’s order to validly clothe the party with the structure and competence to support its candidates ahead of the 2023 elections.
“The answer is in the affirmative and evident by the successful congresses held and the elections of Executives’ members of the party conducted by the National Working Committee at the PDP headquarters, held in 2021”.
