Yakubu Busari
A Jos Base Legal Practitioner, Barrister at Law , Member Chartered Institute of Mediators and Council of Nigeria,(ICMC) and Public Affairs Analysis, Barr. Ado Ali Katyen has disclosed that the electorate passed vote of no confidence on Governor Simon Lalong’s stewardship owning to the wrongful choice of his chief of staff and some of his cabinet for treating citizens as second-class citizens and lacking dividends of democracy with wasteful performance.
He stated the Plateau people rejected the candidacy of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Governor Simon Bako Lalong in the just concluded 2023 general elections for being insensitive to the plight of vulnerable people, and the absence of democracy.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Jos he said given the political dynamism here in Plateau state a sitting government losing power is crying as if they’re the opposition this quest is begging for the question. You have the Governor, commissioners, 17 LGAs Chairmen, and councilors and you are still crying woes as if you’re an opposition party it clearly shows that the people are not in tune with you and your party”.
According to him, if the PDP won 16 seats out of the 24 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly only YPP and six members of APC what does that tell you, it shows you clearly that the people have rejected you.
That demonstrated that it is probably that there is something you have done that is not right, the worst of it is we have a sitting Governor that couldn’t deliver his own polling unit, his ward, his Local Government, and his senatorial distinct, and a Presidential campaign Director General. The Aspirant won the election but for me when you throw the personality of Lalong on the dustbin at the end of the whole exercise the Plateau people have passed a vote of no confidence on Lalong which so worrying and disturbing that the same people they’re crying woe that they have been cheated out of an election, he explained.
Ali Katyen disclosed that there is a lot of confusion arising from the 25% of the presidential election cast, you know in law we have literary meaning and the law interpretation and then we have the mischief interpretation you might not understand and there is what we called community reading of the law.
He stressed that section 299 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, said that Abuja should be treated as one of the States in Nigeria and what is the internment of the draft in the constitution to achieve, however, it is clear to treat Abuja.
According to Ali Katyen,” Maybe the law says since all the tribes are residents in Abuja so there is the need for any candidate with popularity to win Abuja which show that you have some level of acceptability in the seat of power to deliver winner and once you don’t get requirement meaning your acceptability is not there.
Look at the winner of the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu didn’t meet the 25% requirements of the law to be declared winner because Abuja, Lagos, and P/H court are the megacities in Nigeria so how possible out of a population of over 200 million people you would win an election with less than 800. Thousands of votes without scoring the 25 % average population of the country alone stand to give us doubt in the INEC pronouncement of the APC candidate.
He added that there is another challenge if the emergence of rejected votes and canceled votes is among the candidate and if rejected votes and the electoral act clear the doubt that for you to start questioning the validity of the nomination of somebody it has a window period prescribed within 14 working days including Saturday and Sunday after the primary conducted under section 84 subsections 14 which vested the right of locus standing on an aspirant who has contested the same election to challenge the exercise.
Barr. Ali Ado reiterated that Lalong has sunk APC in Plateau state and in the case of APC , some party faithful approached the court to challenge the victory of Sen.Ahmed Bola Tinubu they were questioning his qualification but the appeal court ruled that they were interlopers and busy body to file the suit since they didn’t contest for an election so they lack the locus standing under section 184 (4) which vested that the right of an aspirant just like only APC where you see Danyaro Sarpiya at the supreme court trying to question the validity of the election of APC candidate Dr Nentawe and the APC is busy approaching the election tribunal that there is over voting in Mangu , Jos South and Tudun Wada .
Ali Katyen pointed out that if they’ve filed a petition challenging the outcome the PDP would also file a cross petition if you’re going to look at the fall of APC in Mangu lam also going to look at the Kanke votes.
He lamented that you didn’t tell me that the results you get in that Kanke is perfect the same with Mangu.
Ado Ali Katyen maintained that there was a deliberate plan to subvert the election but some smart people came and intervene and corrected saying this is not going to happen.
They said ,” I am in government and it must be me, so don’t know why the APC in Plateau state don’t want to accept that they have lost this election instance of bringing enmity to ourselves so let them allow the will of people to prevail .”.
