Ahead of Saturday’s re-run for Plateau North and Jos North/Bassa federal constituencies of Plateau State, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed insinuations that its candidates, Senator Simon Mwadkwon and Honourable Musa Agah, will not be on the ballot.
This is as the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state insisted that the PDP had been disallowed from fielding candidates for the election.
The Appeal Court, which sacked Mwadkwon and Agah in its judgment, declared that all political parties that participated in the February 2023 election shall participate in the election.
Speaking on the matter, the publicity secretary of the PDP in Plateau, Mr John Akans, said the judgment of the appellate court was clear because it declared that all parties shall participate in the re-run.
Akans added that the candidates of the PDP approached the Federal High Court in Abuja for clarification, due to pressure on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude the PDP from the election.
“We went to court because we wanted to be on the cautious side because we knew the pressure that was on INEC, and even the Court of Appeal said the party therein shall participate.
“We went to court to get an order of mandamus, which was granted to us. The matter came up today when it was said that there is no deficiency on the part of the PDP and that the PDP doesn’t need the order that our candidates are qualified to contest the election.
“There is no incumbency or deficiency on our side. The APC has nothing to tell the people concerning this election about why they are looking for how the PDP will not participate in the election, but since we are already on the ballot, there is nothing it can do about it,” he said.
On its part, the publicity secretary of the APC in the state, Mr. Slyvanus Namang, said the PDP was just dissipating its energy in vain, as it will not be on the ballot based on the decision of the court of appeal.
“The case instituted by the PDP was to clear it for the re-run election, but it was dismissed by the Federal High Court on Monday.
“They are always doing their things in anticipation, but the truth is that they cannot be on the ballot on Saturday.
“One thing that we want them to know is that the Supreme Court has nothing to do with this election, just as the Supreme Court has nothing to do with the 16 APC members who have their certificates of return. There is no way they will participate in this election; if they do, it is an invitation to anarchy. The only remedy they have is to wait for 2027.
Attempts to speak with INEC spokesperson Michael Otokpa on whether the PDP would be on the ballot for the re-run were not successful as he could not be reached on the phone.
