Four civil society organisations have urged the National Judicial Council to investigate Appeal Court president Monica Dongban-Mensem and the judges involved in the Plateau State election case.
The justices are Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, Abdulaziz Waziri, and Okon Abang, who are all Court of Appeal justices.
At the appeal court, no fewer than 16 lawmakers who ran for the Peoples Democratic Party in the state’s 2023 elections were dismissed.
The court based its ruling on the PDP’s inability to comply with an injunction mandating it to hold ward and local government congresses before selecting candidates for various elective positions.
The governor of the state, Caleb Muftwang, was sacked for the same reason until he was reinstated by the Supreme Court last Friday.
In a petition seen by Chronicle NG on Friday, the CSOs, under the auspices of the ‘Open Justice Alliance,’ stated that the justices’ conduct violated recognised legal standards.
“The decisions handed down by the Court of Appeal, led by the aforementioned justices, which resulted in the removal of over 16 candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party who participated in the 2023 polls in Plateau State is particularly disconcerting as it contradicts established legal principles, including the non-justiciability of issues related to the nomination of political party candidates, as established in previous Supreme Court decisions.
“In light of these concerns, the Open Justice Alliance demands an immediate and thorough investigation into the actions of the justices involved. The alliance seeks a determination of the propriety of their conduct and calls for appropriate sanctions if culpability is established.” the petition partly reads,
