By Jude Opara, Abuja
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje has assure that the decision of the party to tow the path of peace and decorum in handling the affairs of the nation does not mean that the party would achieve that at the expense of its members.
Ganduje who spoke in his office when the members-elect of the Plateau state House of Assembly who are yet to be sworn-in paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday.
This is as the 16 affected members at a press conference on the sidelines of the visit also declared that they are running out of patience because of their inability to take their seats at the chambers.
The aggrieved members said they are surprised that despite the ruling of the Court of Appeals that they should be sworn-in, the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Gabriel Dewan and by extension the state government have refused to obey the court order.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the visit, leader of the group, Hon. Maiyaki Theodore Bala said they have resolved to take measures to ensure that they were allowed to take their position and represent their constituents who elected them.
He said: “Let it be known today that we are resolved and have concluded arrangements to pursue our mandates to the later, and confront these unpopular acts of subterfuge even if it means laying down our lives in order to live up to the promises we made to our constituencies during our campaigns.
“This is a notice to those who think they have a monopoly of nuisance and have taken to self-help. We hold the conviction that there is no place for self-help in our democracy and choosing that path is a call to anarchy and that we shall resist by every measure.
“We have also concluded arrangements with our consultants to engage all legitimate means of engaging these enemies of our democracy at all levels and institutions. No one can expropriate our God-given and constitutional mandates under whatever guise or pretense. There is no question that we are prepared to poke the bull in the eye to save our democracy and the time is now! This is consistent with our efforts to avert any potential breakdown of law and order which may be occasioned by the lingering frustration, hopelessness, helplessness, and strong agitation of our teeming supporters who have waited so long in vain for our inauguration as their representatives.
“The wanton and unchecked immolation of democracy on the Plateau portends a dangerous precedence for this civilized form of governance. There is nowhere in our jurisprudence that the rule of might is allowed to replace the rule of law. We cannot be subjected to the whims and caprices of individuals or groups under whatever guise. We cannot sit by and watch the continued desecration of our grund norm (The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) or even the effrontery to disobey the orders of the court with impunity and at the same time claim to be democrats.
“We call on the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, His Excellency the Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, The Attorney-General of the Federation, The Inspector-General of Police, to order/direct the insidious and recalcitrant Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly to promptly convene the Plateau State House of Assembly that has been on recess for about 5 months and inaugurate us the 16 legitimate members of the Plateau State House of Assembly returned by INEC without further delay to avert any breakdown of Law and order”.
They also appealed to members of the international community to impress it upon the powers that be in the state to ensure that they were admitted into the Assembly to avert a possible breakdown of law and order on the Plateau.
“We call on the United Nations, The United States of America, The European Union, The United Kingdom, and all lovers of democracy all over the world to bring pressure to bear on all the institutions of governance and democracy to compel the insidious and recalcitrant Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly to promptly convene the Plateau State House of Assembly that has been on recess for about 5 months and inaugurate us the 16 legitimate members of the Plateau State House of Assembly without further delay to avert any breakdown of Law and order.
“May we also call on all our traditional rulers, the clergy, community leaders, leaders of thought, civil society organizations, pressure groups, community, and ethnic associations, true friends of democracy, NBA, lawyers, human rights activists, and all well-meaning Nigerians to urgently rise to the occasion by putting pressure on the insidious and recalcitrant Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly to promptly convene the Plateau State House of Assembly that has been on recess for about 5 months and inaugurate us the 16 legitimate members of the Plateau State House of Assembly without further delay to avert any breakdown of Law and order.
“We call on the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and the Conference of Former Speakers of State Houses of Assembly to save the state from descending to the precipice and state of anarchy by bringing to bear your regime of influence and authority to compel a return to true democracy on the Plateau. The present status quo is odious, reprehensible, condemnable, and requires urgent intervention. The good people of Plateau State look up to you to rescue us from the current imbroglio”.
The statement concluded that no one person is a greater or better Plateau citizen than the other; adding that they are conjoined in one destiny, and all the sentiments canvassed about their collective destiny and heritage are squarely at the center of their opportunities.
