Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has strongly criticized the decisions of the Court of Appeal regarding the Plateau state elections, labelling them as a “grave injustice.”
The Court of Appeal had earlier removed several federal and state lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state, citing internal issues within the party.
In a recent interview on Arise TV’s News Night, Ozekhome expressed his dissatisfaction, stating that the decisions of the Court of Appeal constituted a miscarriage of justice.
He highlighted the Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling in favour of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, which declared the removal of PDP lawmakers unjustified.
His words: “In many of the cases, particularly in Plateau state, two senators’ positions were reversed, three House of Representatives were reversed, and about 11 House of Assembly were reversed.
“If all these cases had gone to the Supreme Court, all of them would have their seats retained. On what grounds were they reversed?
“The Court of Appeal, surprisingly, was talking about saying the PDP had no structures in Plateau state; when the PDP structures – membership of a political party of the PDP, nomination, congresses, primaries, when did they become part and parcel of matters that the court can have jurisdiction.
“Today, the Supreme Court said not even the election tribunal has jurisdiction, let alone the Court of Appeal. And they voided the decision on the governorship.
“They would also have voided the decision on the two senatorial candidates, the three House of Reps, and the eleven House of Assemblies. Injustice has been done to them.”
Ozekhome also raised concerns about the workload of the Supreme Court justices, saying:
“The docket of the Supreme Court is overcrowded, and the justices are overwhelmed; for example, eight justices were sitting, and of the eight justices, at least six of them sat in all the appeals.
“For God’s sake, they are human beings like us. These are family members: fathers, grandfathers, brothers, sisters, and mothers.
“And, they have devoted the whole of their lives, since the pre-election petitions started in September 2022, up to now, to nothing but serving the nation.”
