Seriki Adinoyi
15 November 2009
Jos — Tunkus in Mikang local government area of Plateau State was at the weekend thrown into confusion as some angry youths in the area prevented the sacked chairman of the council, Mr. Innocent Tirsel, from entering the council secretariat.
The youths also accused Governor Jonah Jang of flaunting a court order by refusing to swear in Mr. Daniel Kungmi, who was recently declared by the court as the rightful chairman.
The Appeal Court Tribunal sitting in Jos, had on October 31 upheld the judgement of the lower tribunal that sacked Tirse and ordered the State Indepen-dent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to issue a certificate of return to Kungmi, who had gone to the tribunal to challenge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for wrongfully substituting him after he had won the primaries of the election.
Kungmi was said to have approached PLASIEC for his certificate of return after the tribunal's ruling, but was told that the commission was awaiting an order from the Ministry of Justice before his certificate could be issued.
Supporters of Kungmi who had patiently waited for their candidate to be sworn in, became irritated when they saw that Tirsel still cruised around in official cars in a convoy barely two weeks after he had been sacked. They trooped out on Friday to block Tirsel from entering the council secretariat. The youths said the issuance of the certificate of return by PLASIEC had nothing to do with the Ministry of Justice since the court has order PLASIEC to do so.
Tirsel had said he does not recognise the judgement of the Appeal Tribunal since, according to him, the tribunal does not have any jurisdiction to sit over a matter that is purely a party affair.
He said the matter was a pre-election issue which the tribunal should not concern itself with. "As far as I am concerned I still remain the chairman of the local government". He reaffirmed.
He said the youths were hired from the neighboring local governments by his opponent to cause confusion in his council but appealed to his supporters for calm. He said the law enforcement agencies will be applied to maintain order.
Meanwhile, Policemen have since been drafted to the area to restore peace. But when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mohammed Lerama, said he is not aware that policemen had been drafted to the area, but said the police is aware that there is a political problem in the local government.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
