The Appeal court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, sacked three members of the House of Representatives that emerged on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Plateau State during the 2023 general elections.
The appellate court nullified the elections of the PDP candidates in separate judgements delivered on Tuesday.
Those affected by the decision of the court were Peter Gyendeng representing Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency; Musa Bagos representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency and a fifth-term lawmaker, Beni Lar, who represented Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency.
They were sacked based on the failure of the PDP to conduct fresh congress in all the 17 Local Government Areas in Plateau State as directed by the court.
The appeal court held that rather than complying with the initial court order from the Plateau State High Court, the party proceeded to nominate the candidates that eventually won elections in their various constituencies.
The three-man panel of the appeal court led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu ruled that the failure of the PDP to obey the court order, proved fatal to its cause.
Other members of the Appeal Court panel were; Justices Muhammed Mustapha and Okon Abang.
The appeal court’s position is in line with the earlier verdict of the Justice Mohammed Tukur-led Plateau State National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal, which had declared that since all the votes the PDP candidates garnered at the poll were wasted, candidates of other political parties that got the second majority votes, should take their place.
Those now declared winners based on the court orders are Dalyop Chollom and Ajang Alfred Iliya of the Labour Party for Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency and Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency, respectively, and Vincent Bulus Venman of the APC, for Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency.
The court also awarded a cost of N2 million against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for filing appeals to challenge the judgement of the tribunal, saying the electoral body was not supposed to file an appeal in support of any candidate.
“The INEC is supposed to be an independent arbiter. We are not impressed that INEC is appealing,” the appellate court held.
