Plateau APC Seeks Area Court Judge Sanction For Giving Cheap Order
Worried by the judgment of an Area Court that ordered the unsealing of the Secretariats of the 17 local government areas in Plateau State, the All Progressive Congress (APC) has called for the immediate sanctioning of the Area Court judge for availing himself to give the cheap order.
Recall that Area Court judge Hon. H.H. Dolman on Monday ordered the State Commissioner of Police, CP Bartholomew Onyeka, to unseal the local government Secretariats sealed in the wake of the misunderstanding over who controls the 17 secretariats between the management committee chairmen and the sacked chairmen.
In a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Hon. Sylvanus Namang, the APC posited that the Area Court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit and make such a declaration.
It is narrated that the State Government in continuation of its perpetual and flagrant disrespect for judicial processes, purportedly went to a Bukuru Area Court presided by Hon. H. H. Dolnan to seek three reliefs of the Court to exercise its discretion and give an Interim Order to set aside the subsisting Police Commissioner’s directive sealing the Secretariats of the 17 Local Government Councils in Plateau State.
The party added that the state government wants the Area Court to order the Police Commissioner to unseal all the Local Government Secretariats that were sealed on June 8, 2023, following the directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the former Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to order the Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, to seal all the Local Government Secretariats to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
The statement further added that the state government used the Area Court Judge to give an order mandating the Police Commissioner to direct his men to immediately vacate the Secretariats, thereby disrespecting a superior Jos High Court Judgment of June 8th given by Justice Ishaku Kunda, granting an Exparte Order restraining the Plateau State Government from suspending or dissolving Local Government structures in the state.
The APC, therefore, called for restraint by the Plateau State government with regard to its mindless travesty of Justice and trivializing an otherwise serious issue that touches on the security and stability of the state.
“The PDP government in Plateau State should not take us back to the dark days of 2006 when the government of former Governor Joshua Dariye appointed Justice Ya’u Dakwang, who was 4th in the hierarchy of High Court Judges, as Acting Chief Judge to play his script, which led to the punishment of the judge who accepted himself to be used by politicians.
“The PDP government in Plateau State is advised, for once, to take a hard look at its policies and tread with caution, especially with respect to the rule of law, which it has continued to violate with impunity”. It stated.
