Margif faults court verdict upholding Dakum as Plateau LP guber candidate

Ambassador Yohanna Yilpwan Margif has picked holes in the recent verdict of the Federal High Court (FHC), Jos, which declared Dr. Patrick Dakum as the Labour Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate in Plateau State, saying that it did not reflect the spirit and letters of the Electoral Act 2022.

He expressed optimism that the Court of Appeal would not hesitate to upturn the hasty and technical verdict, stressing that Justice Dorcas Agishi relied on the purported repeat governorship primary and endorsement of the LP national chairman without addressing the crucial issue stipulated by the Electoral Act.

In a chat with The Guardian, the embattled governorship candidate declared his determination to press on with the appeal to reclaim his mandate, stressing that the case of illegality was clear because he (Margif) did not withdraw his nomination as governorship candidate.

“I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the judgment delivered last Friday by Justice Agishi of the FHC Jos because her Lordship placed heavy reliance on issues that are entirely strange to my case.”

“The court talked about my expulsion from the party and failure to oppose the repeat governorship primary election that was allegedly held on August 5, 2022 and relied on a dubious withdrawal letter dated August 5, 2022.

“However, it is incontrovertible that I did not submit any letter of voluntary withdrawal from the governorship race to the national chairman and secretary of the party as the respondents claimed,” Margif declared.

Margif, while restating that he emerged from a valid governorship primary after being screened and cleared by the party, said that when he heard the rumour about plots to substitute his name, he caused his lawyer to write a letter to the LP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He said that his lawyer, Barau Abdullahi, informed LP and INEC that I had not and did not intend to withdraw from the governorship race as such any letter of withdrawal should be treated as a forgery.

Margif disclosed that even though the purported letter of withdrawal, which was said to have been endorsed by the two principal officers of LP, the national chairman and secretary did not bear his name and LP membership card number.

He expressed optimism to receive redress at the Court of Appeal, even as he urged his supporters and party faithful to remain calm, law-abiding and prayerful that justice would be done at the end of the day.