The Plateau House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Gabriel Dewan, has finally sworn in nine out of the 16 members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who were declared winners by the Appeal Court.
The new lawmakers were declared winners after the Court of Appeal sacked the 16 PDP members on the grounds that their party was not qualified to sponsor candidates in the election.
Earlier, the Speaker stated that he had received a court directive not to swear in the affected members until a determination of the suit filed by sacked PDP lawmakers who challenged the Appeal Court’s judgment.
Our correspondent reports that Speaker Dewan swore in the nine members at the Old Government House, where the House is temporarily conducting its legislative activities.
No reason was given as to why the remaining seven members were not sworn in by the house.
However, sources said the members were forced to resign before they were inaugurated, while the remaining seven had refused to resign.
The sources added that the new lawmakers were sworn in on the condition that they would resign, with the understanding that their resignation would be enforced if they acted contrary to the conditions set, resulting in their removal from office.
