Appeal Court judgments and PDP in Plateau
Introduction
It is no longer news to anyone in Nigeria that the Plateau chapter of PDP is under fire following the Appeal Court judgments removing virtually all elected officers of the Party who won valid votes at the polls on account of a purported lack of structure. The removed officers include two senators, five House of Reps members, and numerous House of Assembly members.
This write-up seeks to provide clarity into the alleged “structural defect” associated with the PDP to enable individuals to have a more informed understanding of the issues following conflicting reports on main and social media.
Background
The crisis within the Plateau PDP is a long-standing one, dating back to the 2019 elections when the party was sharply divided between the then gubernatorial candidate of the Party and the Party. This was visible in the refusal of the candidate to adopt the Deputy Governorship nominee submitted by the party. The Party subsequently lost the 2019 elections.
Since then, two groups emerged within the party, one loyal to Sen JT Useni and the other loyal to the former Governor, H.E. Da Jonah Jang.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a major contributing factor that deepened the crisis within the party as the party could not conduct its congresses on the expiration of the tenure of the state’s executives, which was to expire by May 10, 2020.
Because of the restriction of activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Secretariat of the party, in a letter dated May 6, 2020, and signed by the National Organizing Secretary of the Party, Col (Rtd) Austin Akobundu, reconstituted all State Executive Members of the Plateau State Chapter into a State Caretaker Committee prior to the expiration of their tenure. This executive committee was led by the then Chairman of the State Exco, Hon. Gwot Chocho, and its tenure elapsed on May 10, 2020.
On May 15, 2020, Hon. Nandom Exodus (a.k.a Exo) declared himself the Chairman of a new state Caretaker Committee, which inaugurated themselves in front of the PDP secretariat. He posited that the National Working Committee had no right to institute a Caretaker Committee in the state and also further observed that since many members of the constituted caretaker committees were interested in re-election, they were not supposed to be in the caretaker committee that would eventually conduct an election.
The Gwot Chocho Caretaker Committee suspended Exo and his six accomplices on May 15, 2020, and set up a disciplinary committee that recommended they should be expelled from the party. On June 4, 2020, Exo and his team were expelled from the party for gross misconduct and anti-party activities.
Exo and his team took the matter to court on June 11, 2020, asking the court to nullify the Caretaker Committee. The court outrightly dismissed the case.
On August 26, 2020, the National Working Committee dissolved the state Caretaker Committee and constituted a new one under the chairmanship of Senator Suleiman Adokwe with three members each from the opposing camps. Adokwe was selected from Nasarawa State to moderate the committee. Adokwe’s committee’s tenure ended after they conducted an election on August 29, 2020, that brought in Hon. Chris Hassan. It should be noted that the committee only served for six days and handed over to the newly elected State Executive Committee.
Chris Hassan’s Executive Committee’s election was challenged in court by Bitrus Kaze in court as there were alleged attempts to exclude him from the election, which he later withdrew from. Also, he alleged that the “former” caretaker chairman, Hon. Chocho, being part of the screening committee was illegal.
On November 26, 2020, Justice Gang ruled in favor of Hon. Bitrus Kaze and ordered a repeat congress.
As of the time of the closure of the submission of the names of candidates for LGA elections of October 9, 2021, by the electoral umpire PLASIEC, the PDP had not complied with the Justice Gang judgment, therefore, it was excluded from participating in the LGA elections.
On June 10, 2021 the National Working Committee dissolved the State Executive Council (SEC) and appointed a caretaker committee under the chairmanship of Senator Tunde Ogbeha for a 90-day period to conduct the state congress. The committee held the election on September 19, 2021, with Hon. Chris Hassan emerging as the winner.
Did Congresses Hold?
The background of this write-up depicts a chronology of events, revealing that a first congress took place on August 20, 2020, but was annulled by the courts. A repeat congress occurred on September 19, 2021, was witnessed by INEC, during which no participant raised complaints about its validity. Even Hon. Bitrus Kaze, who had taken the matter to court, embraced Hon. Chris Hassan and pledged loyalty to the party.
In both elections, Hon. Chris Hassan won by 1,649 and 1,526 votes respectively, while Bitrus Kaze trailed with 22 and 186 votes in the respective elections.
What is being challenged?
The election tribunals held that the PDP had partially complied with Justice Gang’s judgment, alleging that 10 LGAs were excluded from the congresses. However, ALL LGAs actually participated. In the said 10 LGAs, the LGA executives were excluded due to issues with the LG congresses in those areas. Nonetheless, ad hoc delegates, appointees, and other eligible voters participated from those LGAs.
For estimates, there are about 313 wards in the state, with 5 eligible LGA and Ward Excos, and 3 ad hoc delegates in each ward eligible to vote at a state congress. This estimate excludes other eligible voters like appointees and former elected officers, who, by far, are in the minority. This puts the number of delegates at about 2,589. Out of this number, 5 delegates from each of the 10 LGAs were said to have been excluded due to the reasons mentioned, resulting in around 500 delegates being excluded, leaving a total of about 2,089 delegates.
Looking at the actual numbers that voted, in the second congress, which is deemed valid, there was a turnout of 1,712 delegates, constituting a 66.1% turnout of all voters or 81.9% of the total eligible voters.
The definition of partial compliance by the courts is so subjective that 60% or 81.9% was seen as partial, meanwhile the voter turnout for the 2023 presidential election was 26.72%.
Conclusion
The wisdom of the courts in cancelling the elections of PDP officers in Plateau state does not seem to have followed any formula, either mathematical or otherwise. Many lawyers are also confused about how the decision was reached by the Appeal Court. For lawmakers, it is over, but for the Governor, the Supreme Court remains to adjudicate the circumstances and make a final decision.
Datong, Dominic Gwaman, PhD. is a
Conflict, Security and Development expert.
