Reps Minority Caucus Demands Sanctions Against Erring Appeal Court Justices

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for sanctions on Appeal Court justices responsible for the removal of Plateau lawmakers.

Rep. Chinda Kingsley, the Minority Leader in the House of Reps, made this statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

He emphasized that the justices handling these cases should be reprimanded to serve as a deterrent to other judges who might consider similar actions in the future.

In November 2023, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked all 16 members of the PDP in the Plateau State House of Assembly over pre-election matters, citing alleged disobedience of a court order and lack of a political structure.

Before this, the appeal court had also removed four PDP members of the House of Representatives from the state and two senators.

Kingsley also congratulated opposition parties on the Supreme Court’s judgment that reinstated and upheld the victory of opposition governors, including Dr. Alex Otti of Abia, Pastor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Sen. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, Alhaji Abba Yusuf of Kano State, Mr. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, and Mr. Lawal Daudu of Zamfara State.

“We applaud the Supreme Court Justices for ensuring that the sanctity of the votes of the people of these states was not compromised. These decisions have renewed the faith of Nigerians in the judiciary as it has demonstrated that it is the last hope of the common man,” Kingsley said.

He noted the imperative to reference the decisions of the Court of Appeal regarding State Houses of Assembly and National Assembly elections in Plateau that sacked several PDP legislators on questionable grounds. The same grounds were used by the Supreme Court to set aside the judgments.

While recognizing that the decisions could not be appealed against because they occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice, Kingsley urged that the justices who handed them down should be reprimanded to deter other judges from taking similar paths in the future.

The caucus commended the returned governors of the ruling party and prayed that they would justify the confidence reposed in them by prioritizing the country above self. (NAN)