Plateau LG Polls: Lalong In Dilemma Over Swearing-In Of PDP Candidate, Ubandoman Joshua-Laven

On Friday, July 19, 2019, the Plateau State Election Appeal Tribunal declared Ubandoman Joshua-Laven of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the lawfully elected chairman of Langtang North Local Government in the October 10, 2018 poll. However, tension seems to be rising as political pundits are keenly watching to see if Governor Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will repeat the action taken by his immediate predecessor when faced with similar situation.

Plateau State Governor and Chairman of Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Simon Lalong, appears to be in a dilemma over the tribunal verdict in favour of Langtang North Local Government chairmanship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ubandoman Joshua-Laven.

Political pundits in the state believe that history may repeat itself for a second time after former Governor Jonah Jang of the PDP, refused to swear-in Daniel Dul of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) one year after he was declared the winner of Langtang North Local Government election in 2014 by the Appeal Tribunal. It was Lalong who swore in Dul into office in 2015 when he won the 2015 governorship election in the state. Dul later defected to the APC. But with the recent turn of events, all eyes are on the governor who is a lawyer to see if he will uphold the law.

Joshua-Laven contested the October 10 Local Government Election for Langtang North Local Government Council and the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) declared the APC candidate, Kparnim Amos winner of the election based on the result presented by the returning officer.

Prior to the polls, Lalong vowed to swear-in whoever is declared by PLASIEC as winner of the election across the 13 Local Government Areas where the polls were conducted irrespective of party affiliations. He also encouraged those who were not satisfied with the outcome of the election to approach the Local Government Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the victory of those declared winners.

Lalong, without wasting of time, inaugurated the Local Government Tribunal in the state and vowed to respect the verdict of the court by swearing-in anybody whose mandate is restored by the tribunal.

In some local governments, the candidates who filed their petitions before the tribunal dumped it midway for lack of funds, while some defected to the APC in the build up to the 2019 general elections. But Joshua-Laven, who grew up under the tutorship of late Solomon Lar, the pioneer national chairman of the PDP approached the election tribunal with a petition, challenging the declaration of Amos by PLASIEC as the elected chairman of Langtang North.

The six-hour judgment delivered in the lower tribunal under the chairmanship of Justice Jovita Binji, on May 25, 2019 dismissed the PDP’s petition for lack of merit.

But Joshua-Laven, not satisfied with the ruling of the lower tribunal, approached the Appeal Tribunal, asking it to declare him winner, claiming that he pulled the highest votes during the said election.

He pursued his petition through his lead counsel  Niri Darong and the Appeal Tribunal under the chairmanship of Justice Arum Ashom, on July 19, set aside the judgment of the lower tribunal and declared Joshua-Laven the winner of Langtang North in the October 10, 2018 local government election.

Delivering judgment at the State High Court Jos, Ashom said, “The lower tribunal goofed when it dismissed the petition of PDP and Ubandoma on May 25.’’

According to the appeal tribunal, several mistakes were made by the lower court when taking decisions on some of the exhibits presented before it by all the parties involved. It faulted the lower tribunal for accepting a ‘baseless’ result hurriedly presented by PLASIEC after the petitioners had completed their prosecution. It described the result as worthless when compared with what was compiled at the various polling units as authentic results at the 17 wards of Langtang North Local Government Council. The tribunal declared based on evidence before it, that APC scored 14,708 votes and PDP scored 19,599 votes respectively during the election.

The Appeal tribunal in its ruling declared that, “Ubandoma Joshua-Laven of PDP, having scored 19, 599 as against 14, 708 votes of his APC counterpart, Kparnim Nanloh-Amos, he has met the required votes according to the law and is hereby declared winner and returned elected.

“Consequently, PLASIEC is hereby ordered to issue the 1st Appellant, Ubandoma Joshua-Laven of PDP with certificate of return as the duly elected chairman of Langtang North Local Government Area. This is the judgment of the election appeal tribunal, ’’ Ashom declared.

Since the judgment was delivered, Plateau State indigenes from Langtang-North Local Government Area, particularly women have being jubilating on major streets at the Local Government Area headquarters. The women wing made up of PDP and APC supporters appealed to Governor Lalong to respect the decision of the tribunal and swear-in Joshua-Laven to strengthen his political career and credibility in the state.

Nanching Jimam who spoke on behalf of the women said: “We are happy with the ruling of the Appeal Tribunal, the two candidates are both from Langtang and they are our sons, we are ready to work with anyone that was duly elected by the people.

“We appeal to PLASIEC to respect the decision of the court and issue Joshua-Laven a certificate of return and Governor Lalong should please take the necessary action and swear him in as declared by the court.

“We are confident that Governor Lalong who is a lawyer and whose administration is built on the rule of law will do the needful. He demonstrated this when former Governor Jonah Jang refused to swear-in Chief Dan Dul of the DPP when the court declared him winner of the 2014 local government election but when Lalong came on board in 2015, Dan Dul was sworn-in and returned as chairman of Langtang North.”

Another elder from the local government who is not a card carrying member of any political party, Wuyep Benkur, hailed the judgment and appealed to PLASIEC and Governor Lalong to keep to his word and carry out the decision of the appeal tribunal.

“We don’t have anything to say about what has happened; all of them are our children and since the court has proven that it was not our son in the APC that won the election, the person who contested in the PDP is also our son, so he should be sworn-in to work for the people.

“He was not elected chairman of PDP; he was elected as chairman of Langtang North to work for the people of Langtang North just like Governor Lalong who was elected on the platform of the APC is working for Plateau people another not just for APC.”

But a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Shehu, believes that the governor is in a dilemma over the issue. He said Lalong is respected in the North with his elevation as the chairman of Northern Governors Forum and will earn more respect if he chooses to stand with the verdict of the court and the people.

“I know that Lalong might be in dilemma but the right thing should be done. The issue of political party affiliation should be de-emphasised once a court of law makes a pronouncement. I believe that Lalong will do the right thing which will end him more respect among his people,” Shehu said.

The LG chairman-elect, Joshua-Laven is seen as a bridge between the young and the old even especially because of the chieftaincy tussle in Langtang. Many hope that he will bring unity among the Tarok people once he is sworn-in.

Reacting to the verdict, Joshua-Laven said: “I am happy with the judgment and this has proven that the Judiciary is the hope of the common man. When I contested the election on the October 10, 2018, I won but I was robbed of my victory and the governor swore in the APC candidate. It could be that the governor was misinformed because he has vowed not to interfere with the results and that whoever wins will be given his mandate.

“He also said that whoever is denied his mandate should seek redress in the tribunal which is what I did and I am happy now that I have gotten justice. I am appealing to the governor who is a lawyer to uphold the law. I have confidence in him because it was in this same local government that when the former governor refused to swear in Daniel Dul who won the chairmanship in 204, Lalong came into office and immediately swore him in.”

Source: The Sun