Court of Appeal judgments: Gov Mutfwang urges for calm amid protest over sacking of PDP lawmakers

Following the recent judgments of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja that invalidated the mandates of several PDP National Assembly members from Plateau State, Governor Caleb Mutfwang has urged citizens to remain calm.

The governor acknowledged the people’s profound sadness with the court’s decisions on Wednesday, but urged them to remain calm.
It was recalled that thousands of youths from across the 17 LGAs marched peacefully through Jos with various placards expressing their displeasure with recent Court of Appeal judgements that sacked six PDP National Assembly lawmakers, ordering a rerun in the Plateau North Senatorial Zone within 90 days.

Others had their certificates of return revoked and issued to APC and Labour Party candidates.

Mutfwang, in a press statement made available to media in Jos, the state capital, by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Gyang Bere, emphasized that it is natural for people to be “distressed and devastated” when their will is thwarted.

“Though the verdicts haven’t gone as many expected,” the governor said, urging the people not to take the law into their own hands.

“It has come to my attention that both partisan and non-partisan individuals participated in the protest,” he says.

“I request tranquility. I highly advise Plateau State residents not to take any actions that may jeopardize the relative tranquility we currently enjoy. “Let us not allow disillusionment to devolve into a breakdown of law and order,” he warned.

The governor expressed unflinching faith in the courts and assured the people that justice will be served for the citizens of the state.

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He advised people to be positive in the face of the current hardships and to trust the judicial process.

The governor also stated that it had been brought to his attention that certain security personnel had mistreated innocent people.

He did, however, recognize the enormous contribution of various security forces in maintaining peace in the state and asked them to be courteous in regulating nonviolent demonstrators.

Mutfwang asked people, particularly PDP supporters, not to resort to vandalism, but rather to put their trust in God Almighty, the supreme judge who rules over the universe.

He reiterated that triumph is assured as long as God is on the throne.

The governor exhorted inhabitants not to despair, but to find comfort in the belief that God is always “watchful and active.”