Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, on Friday, disclosed that his state would be seeking both legal and political ways of resolving the crisis that has trailed the sacking of lawmakers from the state.
The Court of Appeal had last November sacked 16 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly, five members of the House of Representatives and two senators, all of whom vied for the offices on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over a pre-election matter.
The state House of Assembly is scheduled to resume next week, with fears being expressed that the eight Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members still remaining after the Appeal Court sacked others, may not inaugurate the new members having already met the required threshold for a quorum.
However, responding to a question over the development, Governor Mutfwang, who said he was at the Villa on a thank you visit to President Bola Tinubu for not interfering in the functions of the judiciary and allowing the courts to deliver justice as they see fit, said all possible options are being considered.
“Yes, I think this is an ongoing discussion, and I can’t tell you anything now because we are looking at all the possible solutions, legally, politically or otherwise, to ensure that… my interest is to have a peaceful state in which I can focus on development and governance. And therefore, we want to ensure that we reduce all areas of friction as much as we can.
“I want to particularly thank Nigerians for the interest they have shown in the Plateau situation. We do not take it for granted. And I believe that out of the Plateau situation, our jurisprudence will be enriched and justice will find a sure footing in Nigeria in the future. That’s all I can say”, he said.
Asked why he was at the Villa, Mutfwang said, “I came to see the president purposely to say a very big thank you to Mr President, for keeping democracy alive in Nigeria.
“As you all know, I went through a very protracted legal battle and I’ve said it openly and I am repeating that the Nigerian president is a powerful president. And if he does not exercise restraint in the exercise of his power, he can intrude into the judicial arena and the judiciary will not be allowed to perform its function.
“In my own case and in several others, I’m sure, we can attest to the fact that Mr. President allowed the judiciary to perform its functions as it should, thereby guaranteeing its independence.
“I, therefore, must come to thank him for exercising that restraint because those who wanted to pervert justice also brought tremendous pressure on him to see how he could interfere, but I must put it that Mr. President choosing not to interfere is a credit to his statesmanship and a credit to his credentials as a sound democrat, and this is the only way we can ensure that our institutions mature to the point where they can guarantee not only the survival of democracy but also ensure that institutions should be able to survive, develop and outlive individuals,” he said.
He also disclosed that he brought President Tinubu up to speed with the security situation, especially the Christmas period attacks on the Plateau.
He said, “This is why I came principally to say thank you to the President. And of course, you know Mr President will not meet me and not ask about the security situation on the Plateau. And I also gave them an update.
“Things are relatively calm at the moment. The security agencies are in pursuit of the perpetrators of this dastardly act that we experienced during the Christmas period and we’re doing our best together with the federal government and international donor partners to be able to mitigate the pain of those families who lost their loved ones and also those who are internally displaced.
“So we’re doing our best and we’re also ensuring that we step up our security surveillance to prevent further occurrences of this kind of needless bloodshed,” he said.
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