From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) Plateau State House of Assembly members, who were declared winners by the Court of Appeal, have petitioned the United Nations (UN), the United States of America (USA), the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK) among others, to intervene in the refusal by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Gabriel Dewan, to inaugurate them despite the certificate of return already issued to them.
They also called on President Bola Tinubu, Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, senate president, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to order or direct the Speaker to promptly convene the Assembly to inaugurate them.
Speaking to newsmen after a meeting with the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, member of the Assembly, Maiyaki Theodore Bala, described the present status quo as odious, reprehensible and condemnable, adding that it required urgent intervention.
“We call on the UN, USA, EU, UK, 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 State Assembly to promptly convene the Assembly and inaugurate us 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 organisations, pressure groups, community, and ethnic associations, true friends of democracy, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), human rights activists and all well-meaning Nigerians to urgently rise to the occasion by putting pressure on the Speaker.
“We also call on the Conference of Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly and the Conference of former Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly to save the state from descending into the precipice and state of anarchy, by bringing to bear their 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.
“We wish to state categorically that the 16 of us, who are legitimate members of the state assembly, are united and resolute in faith that the Plateau project is our collective responsibility. No one person is a greater or better Plateau person than the other.
“We are conjoined in one destiny, and all the sentiments canvassed about our collective destiny and heritage are squarely at the centre of our opportunities, and we shall leave no stone unturned to ensure the realisation of this noble and solemn dream.”