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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed a fresh suit filed by the sacked 16 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in Plateau State.
The sacked lawmakers, who had made futile efforts to regain their seats at the House of Assembly after the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Governor Caleb Muftwang, approached the appellate court for a review of its judgement that sacked them.
But delivering judgement in the fresh suit on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal Judges led by Justice J.O.K. Oyewole dismissed the suit as frivolous and lacking in merit.
He subsequently ordered that each of the 16 applicants pay the sum of N8 million to the respondents, bringing the total fine to N128 million.
Recall that the Court of Appeal had sacked the lawmakers on the ground that their party lacked structure and could not sponsor candidates in an election, thereby declaring all candidates that came second in the 2023 elections as the authentic winner of the election.
Having heard the arguments, Justice J.O.K. Oyewole rejected the motions for lacking merit, describing the suit as a waste of judicial time.
Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Gabriel Daweng, had refused to swear in the 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party members as lawmakers on January 23, arguing that he had received court process and asked them to wait until the court made a determination.
