Amidst political tensions in Plateau State, the Peace and Good Governance Advocates, a pro-democracy group, has voiced concerns over the risk of disrupting democratic processes through conflicting court decisions. The group, during a meeting in Jos, emphasized the potential threat of judicial officers undermining the will of the people through inconsistent legal judgments, calling for vigilance to safeguard democratic principles.
Additionally, the Plateau State Christian and Muslim Inter-Faith group, jointly led by Evangelist Joshua Ringsum and Imam Othman Abdullahi, denounced what they termed as the actions of “desperate politicians” attempting to spark a new crisis in the state. The inter-faith group raised alarm about the contradictory and conflicting judgments being delivered by election petition tribunals and appeal courts. They urged the National Judicial Council and other relevant entities to closely monitor these legal proceedings, seeking to prevent unnecessary tensions arising from discrepancies in court decisions that might erode the people’s electoral choices due to technicalities.
Alligning with the clerics, PEGGA in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Mani Imman, said, “We find it gladdening that otherwise, competing faith leaders have come together to speak against the threats to peace on the plateau on account of the contradictory judgments coming out from the tribunals and the appeal courts.
“We particularly laud the clerics for not giving themselves as advocates of the political parties or cowing to the rascality that we see coming out from the judiciary.
“We call on the clerics to remain steadfast and as leaders of faith to also add prayers to their supplication against the threats to peace on the plateau.”
“As the clerics observed in their joint press conference on Saturday, using the judiciary to truncate the popular will of the people will reverse the gains of the peace efforts being achieved by the Federal and Plateau State Governments.
“It is on this note that we reiterate the call to the National Judicial Council, NJC to rein in judicial officers from truncating the will of the people for selfish goals.”
