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…urges Mutfwang to swear in 7 lawmakers-elect
From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Former Governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Prof. Patrick Dakum, has decried the absence of Plateau in the federal executive and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint a minister for the state.
Former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Barr. Simon Lalong had resigned his appointment to take up a seat at the senate following the Appeal Court verdict, which upheld his election as senator representing Plateau South senatorial zone.
Dakum, a virologist, and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, (IHVN), is also asking Governor Caleb Mutfwang to resolve the political impasse in the state by instructing the Speaker, Gabriel Dewan, to swear-in the remaining seven members of the state House of Assembly.
The former LP guber candidate in an interview with newsmen expressed worries over the Presidency’s procrastination in appointing a new minister from Plateau to fill in the gap created by Lalong’s resignation and the deliberate refusal of the Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, to swear-in the remaining seven members-elect to sit with their colleagues as duly elected representatives of their constituents.
The seven were among the 16 All Progressives Congress ((APC) members, whose elections were validated by the Court of Appeal after the court had sacked the 16 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators. While nine had been inaugurated, the fate of remaining seven had remained in limbo.
He said that the president is doing a disservice to the state by keeping the people sway from the centre through non-representation at the highest decision making organ of the government while some population in the state are not feeling the dividends of democracy as they don’t have a voice in the state legislature.
According to him, “It’s totally unfair to deny Plateau participation in the Federal Executive Council, FEC, for over six months by not having a minister which is not the state’s fault. This action excludes Plateau from participating in the running of the country’s affairs in the capacity of ministerial activities as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic and is undemocratic.
“Democracy entails carrying everyone along, following due process, observing the rule of law and dispensing justice to all without delay. There is no genuine reason for Plateau to be without a minister for this long which denies it participation in decisions making for good governance in the country. There are capable and eligible hands in the state that can handle any ministry, so why delaying the appointment,” Dakum said.
On issue of the lingering non-swearing of the remaining seven members-elect to participate in the state assembly’s legislation, Dakum said for democracy to thrive, court orders must be obeyed whether palatable or unpalatable.
He said, “There is absolutely no reason why the members-elect the Court of Appeal declared winners should not be in the House working. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand why and how because it is the same judiciary that said the governor is PDP, and the House is APC, so, what’s the rocket science in that?
“The court has already taken its decision and there is nothing anyone can do about it, but to obey the court’s decisions. It is democracy to obey court order whether in our favour or not.”
Dakum , who served as Commissioner of Health and Information during the administration of former Governor Joshua Dariye, said that it’s abuse of democracy to procrastinate swearing in of the members-elect as it amounted to nothing short of denying their constituents the right of being represented in the House, thereby making the government incomplete.
He was of the strong belief that everyone should be carried along and no constituency should be left behind in the interest of democracy, good governance, progress and justice.
