The court of appeal in Abuja has nullified the election of Simon Mwadkwon, Senator representing Plateau north Senatorial district in the national assembly. This was as the appeal court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct a fresh election within 90 days. In a unanimous judgement, the three-member panel led by Justice Dauda Williams held that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not validly nominate Mwadkwon who presently is the Senate minority leader. The panel held that it is their view that court orders were not fully complied with by the PDP as 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) did not participate in the congress.
The court cited non-compliance with a subsisting court order from the Plateau State High Court made since 2020 for the PDP to conduct Congress prior to nominations, as a key factor in their decision.
The court gave the ruling on the appeals filed by Chris Giwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Gyang Zi of the Labour Party (LP).
Giwa and Zi had appealed against the judgment of the National/State Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos, Plateau State, which earlier affirmed Mwadkwon of the PDP as the rightful winner of the senatorial poll.
They argued that Mwadkwon was not qualified to contest the election owing to the statement that the PDP had no structure.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice E. Daudu, held that the PDP failed to fully comply with the High Court order as 12 local government areas didn’t participate in the said party congress.
“The court made total findings with regard to the issue in focus.
“To avoid anarchy, I agree with the appellants that the court must protect an order of another court.
“I agree with the appellant that the third respondent had no valid structure and could not have claimed to have validly nominated the second respondent (Mwadkwon) for the election.
“Given the findings of this court, the appeal, therefore, succeeds as the court order was not complied with.
"The first respondent is hereby ordered to conduct another senatorial election in Plateau North within 90 days,” Daudu declared.
