Petitions against Plateau lawmakers dismissed by tribunal

Three members of the Plateau State House of Assembly has retained their seats following the failure of the petitioners to prove their case that the election was rigged in the last general elections. The petitioners failed to unseat the elected members at the national and state assembly tribunal constituted to hear such petitions.

The three members who retained their seats are Ezekiel Afon for Pengana, Yahaya Adamu for Wase and Alice Dimlong for Pankshin North assembly constituencies.

In the judgment, on the petition of Gondina Musa Sambo against the elected Ezekiel Afon, the tribunal found that almost 80 per cent of the documents that the petitioner relied on were inadmissible.

The tribunal held on Saturday that it was therefore unable to ascribe value to any of the petitioners, which was termed as contradictory in all facets and accordingly dismissed it for lack of merits.

Ibrahim Idris, Governor of Kogi State

In the petition of the immediate past member of the House on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Diket Plang, against Alice Dimlong of the APC, the tribunal found that the petitioner failed to prove that the election conducted for Pankshin North state constituency fell short of what the electoral law required.

The tribunal further found that most of the documents pleaded by the petitioner were either not properly pleaded or done out of time. The tribunal therefore refused the admission in evidence.

On the allegation of sharing of votes in Tazon One and two polling units where one Emmanuel Goar was said to have held the election to ransom, the tribunal held that the witnesses who testified for the petitioner in that regard discredited themselves when they contradicted themselves.

In view of that, the tribunal was convinced by the evidence before it that Alice Dimlong won the election and accordingly dismissed the petition.

Ortom

The petition of Dayabo Dauda (PDP) against Yahaya Adamu (APC) for Wase Federal Constituency suffered the same fate as the tribunal found that the petition lacked concrete evidence as the petitioner failed to discharge the burden of proof which lied on him to warrant the granting of any of the prayers sought.

The tribunal accordingly affirmed the election by dismissing the petition in its entirely. Ezekiel Afon and Alice Dimlong gave God the glory for their victory, which they hoped to translate into concrete benefits for their constituencies.

Also, The Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) has said that it would continue to demolish illegal structures within Jos/Bukuru metropolis until people learn to obey laid down rules on structural development.

Acting General Manager of the Board, Matthias Hatah, stated this at the weekend while on a demolition exercise. The exercise took JMDB team to Anglo – Din Bukuru, Zarmaganda, Sabon Bariki, Tudun Wada, Hill Station Junction, Rukuba Road as well as Ahmadu Bello Way.

According to Hatah, the Board has put measures in place to demolish all illegal structures within Jos and Bukuru, advising people to always take permission from it before they start construction work.

He expressed concern with the manners people build structures and houses on roadways, saying that the Board would not tolerate it. He said that prospective builders were usually advised to bring their building plans for approval before commencing development.

He emphatically stated that before carrying out demolition exercise, the Board always followed due process by giving two notices, adding that it was after the expiration of the two notices without any response from the builders that the Board would have no choice but to embark on demolition.

He pointed out that the present administration was working towards beautifying Jos/Bukuru metropolis, urging people to always follow due process when building.