The Muslim community in Plateau state on Thursday, join hundreds of people in a peaceful protest against the appeal court judgments that sacked two senators and four members of the House of Representatives, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The protest came from the 17 Local Government Areas of the state and barricaded the busy Old Airport Junction in Jos metropolis and Mararaban Jama’a, a gateway to the city, demanding the review of the judgements.
Speaking during the protest, secretary of Hausa/Fulani PDP forum, Abdulkarim Yaro, called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review the judgments which, according to him, was hinged on a pre-election matter.
“We are here to express our displeasure with the recent judgments by the Appeal Court because we know we have been robbed of our mandate.
“In other states, this issue has been taken as a pre-election matter, but why is the case of Plateau different?
“We from the Muslim community, align our voice with all the groups from Plateau who came out to speak against this injustice.
“We were to protest but the police said did not grant us permission, so as law-abiding citizens, we had no other option than to obey and wait for the approval.
“We demand that the whole nation should look at Plateau. Why are we treated differently? He asked.
Also speaking, Lubabatu Ali, a woman leader, called on critical stakeholders in the judiciary and Nigerians to rise against what she described as injustice against the people of Plateau state.
“We know the issues are pre-election issues, we want justice. We all came out massively during the election to support the PDP and the party won.”
One of the protesters, Iliya James asked, “How can the mandate of someone who scored over 95,000 votes in an election be nullified by the court and the person who scored about 35,000 votes be declared as the winner? This is a miscarriage of justice.”
He said, “This is banditry, and we are here to express our dissatisfaction with the action of the Court of Appeal.
“These people were overwhelmingly voted for by the people of Plateau. The judgment of the court is an attempt to kill democracy using legal technicalities and dampening the morale of voters.
“We call on the NJC to review these judgments to restore these mandates to the original winners; those that the masses actually voted for.”
Plateau muslim community, others, protests appeal court judgments sacking law makers
