The seven Plateau lawmakers-elect of the All Progressive Congress (APC) yet to be sworn in by the Speaker of the State Assembly have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to prevail on the state governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to direct the speaker to swear them into office.
The lawmakers-elect said President Tinubu is their last hope, considering that the rule of law is being neglected in relation to their swearing-in, despite the Appeal Court’s pronouncement ordering their swearing-in.
It would be recalled that on April 5, the speaker of the assembly swore in nine out of the 16 APC and LP lawmakers-elect after they signed undated resignation letters. However, the remaining seven lawmakers-elect alleged that they were not sworn in because of their refusal to sign the letters.
In an interview with Daily Trust, the member-elect representing Mikang, Daniel Nanlong, who spoke on behalf of others, said, “At the moment, the only person who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the leader of our democracy in Nigeria is the one who can intervene and direct our swearing-in. We expect that the president will take decisive action so that we can be sworn in.
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Nanlong noted that they were not invited for the swearing-in on April 5 because they refused to accept the conditions allegedly given by the governor, which included signing an undated resignation form.
“We cannot sign the resignation form just because we want to be sworn in. That is just our position at the moment,” he added.
“We are living in a democratic dispensation that is guided by the law. What we expect is that those who are lovers of democracy, like Mr. President Tinubu, who has been a democrat should see what is happening in Plateau as a concern for him. We have been telling our people to calm down. You can imagine that they are there without representatives. Their voices are not heard on the floor of the house. This is a big challenge for us. We hope that this problem will get the attention of the president,” Nanlong said.
When contacted about the fate of the seven lawmakers-elect, the speaker, Gabriel Dewan, said he was in a meeting but would call back. As of the time of filing this report, he has yet to call our correspondent, while several calls and text messages to him were not responded to.
