Police deploy teargas at sacked Plateau PDP lawmakers trying to resume plenary
Security agents have deployed teargas against the 16 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Plateau State House of Assembly, who were recently ousted by the Court of Appeal.
The lawmakers and their supporters had gathered at the Rayfield Old Government House in Jos on Tuesday morning, intending to resume plenary.
Security operatives, including the police, took control of the Government House premises, blocking the sacked lawmakers from entering the House of Assembly chambers. Despite the security presence, the PDP lawmakers remained defiant, vowing not to vacate the premises.
Addressing journalists in Jos, the former Majority Leader, Ishaku Maren, representing the sacked PDP members, argued that the Supreme Court’s verdict affirming Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s election should also be applicable to the legislators ousted by the appellate court.
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Reacting to the PDP’s attempt to resume the plenary session, members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) criticized the move as insensitive to the rule of law and viewed it as an invitation to anarchy.
Recalled that the Court of Appeal removed 16 PDP members from the Plateau State House of Assembly, citing a lack of structure, with the APC and Labour Party benefiting from the judgment.
Although Certificates of Return have been issued to APC and Labour Party members following the court’s directive, they are yet to be inaugurated as the House has been on recess since December 2023.
