The Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Gabriel K. Dewan might be cooling off in jail soon if he fails to swear in the 16 members elect of the State House of Assembly, the All Progressives Congress APC warns
Since their declaration as House of Assembly Members elect in November 2023, the Speaker has continued to play a hanky panky game with their inauguration adjourning the house sitting indefinitely citing renovation works as the reason
As reported recently by this medium www.pointblank.com.ng, the Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Gabriel Dewan declared that he recognizes only 7 members of the house immediately after the Supreme Court declared Governor Caleb Mutfwang as Governor of Plateau State on 12th January, 2023 when the 16 PDP lawmakers and 16 members elect stormed the house to be recognized as members.
The Speaker took the decision to “avoid breakdown of law and order, and for being impartial”. According to www.pointblank.com.ng, Rt Hon Dewan unequivocally stated that he’ll only recognize the 16 members elect after the court must have interpreted the judgement of the Appeal Court.
Recall that the Court of Appeal Abuja Division on Monday dismissed the application by the sacked 16 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a review of the judgement that sacked them following the Supreme Court judgement that affirmed Governor Caleb Muftwang as Governor of the State.
The Court, which dismissed the application for review of the judgement, also awarded a hefty fine in the sum of N8 million to each of the 16 APC members involved in the case.
The State Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Hon. Rufus Bature, expressed displeasure over the continued delay, adding that the flagrant disobedience to the judgement was contempt and a lack of respect for the judiciary and other constituted authorities.
Hon. Bature implored the Speaker of the House to do the needful and swear in the 16 APC lawmakers, adding that any further delay may force the party to institute another suit that might compel him to do the right thing.
“We cannot force the speaker to swear them in; we are giving him some time to see what he will do. I can assure you that we will do the needful. There are legal means that we need to follow if it becomes imperative or extremely necessary.
‘”Ordinarily, he should have sworn them in right from the onset. It is unfortunate that people who are products of the law don’t want to obey the law because the Speaker ought to have done the needful from the day they received their certificates of return. But we are being careful not to heat the system because of the security situation in the state. That does not mean we don’t know what to do.”
According to him, if the Speaker, Hon. Gabriel Dewan, still remains adamant, the party will have no option but to seek redress to compel him to do the right thing, adding that the speaker might be charged with contempt of court.
“The Speaker has no option but to swear them in; otherwise, he might be charged with contempt of court because this is contempt. My advice is that the Speaker should swear in the 16 members without any further delay.
“There is no doubt the Speaker is being teleguided from somewhere, but if he refuses to do the right thing, history will be harsh on him. He is a young man who is still growing in politics, so he should not destroy himself,” Bature advised.
