Following the pronouncement of the Supreme Court affirming Governor Caleb Muftwang as the governor of Plateau State on Friday, there was jubilation across the length and breadth of the state as citizens and party supporters trooped out in thousands to celebrate.
While going around Jos, the state capital, people hurriedly closed their premises to join the celebration. There were heavy traffic gridlocks along major roads such as Airport Junction, Ahmadu Bello Way, and Zawan Junction, among others, due to the jubilation.
Immediately after the news of the governor’s victory at the Supreme Court filtered into the state, the apparent tension that enveloped the air suddenly disappeared. Party supporters and other admirers of Governor Muftwang trooped into the streets.
In his reaction to the judgement, the former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, said the governor’s victory at the Supreme Court was a triumph for democracy and against the wishes of anti-democratic forces.
The former governor, in a statement signed by his media consultant, Comrade Clinton Garuba, recalled with sadness how anti-democratic forces tried as much as possible to manipulate the will of the people without success.
“We must thank the justices for upholding the rule of law, thereby affirming the long-held belief that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.
We thank them for not allowing themselves to be manipulated because we are aware that the same forces of darkness, in their usual manner, had wanted to thwart the people’s mandate, plunge the state into disarray, and set us years backwards. But we thank God because that evil intention was not allowed to stand, as the voice of the people is the voice of God,” he said.
He thanked the Plateau people for their vigilance and for trooping out in their hundreds and thousands in condemnation and resistance after the miscarriage of justice by the Court of Appeal, adding that they all came out to lend their voice against the injustice. “We salute your resilience.”
Senator Jang further commended the press for escalating the voice of the people against evil manipulation and injustice and for standing for what is right.
“We specially thank Mr. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for not interfering in the judicial process despite the pressure from the same forces of darkness.
“We take this opportunity again to express our gratitude to Mr. President for his concern for the affairs of Plateau State. The people are indeed grateful and want him to do more on the issue of the genocidal war that has been declared on the state and its people by some forces of darkness who are hell-bent on appropriating, albeit forcefully, our God-given heritage.
“As sad as it is, the damage that has been done to Plateau by the miscarriage of justice at the Court of Appeal is in great proportion because the kind of judgment that was delivered by the lower court has robbed the people of their rightful representation both at the state and the National Assembly. But all hope is not lost.
The former governor said the people of Plateau State, through the government of Plateau State and the Peoples Democratic Party, have petitioned the National Judicial Council to review all the judgments involving Plateau State that were delivered by the Court of Appeal, effectively stopping those who have been elected to the national and state houses of assembly from representing their constituencies.
According to him, with the Supreme Court judgment, it has become abnormal for them to remain as legislators when they could not win elections at the polls; this should not be allowed to stand.
“The authorities must give back to the people their true representatives and restore their mandate. We will continue to support the government of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, who, in his only eight months of stay, has done what the previous administration under former Governor Simon Lalong could not accomplish in eight years. This is quite historic for the people of Plateau State.”
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
