Appeal Court Managers Lacks the Sensitivity to Manage the Appeal Court – Amb. GY Gotom

The Senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the just recently concluded 2023 general elections in Plateau State, Amb Golkuna Yohanna Gotom, has faulted the judgment of the Appeal Court delivering judgment in favour of Diket Plang of the All Progressives Congress APC, saying the managers of the Appeal Court lacks the sensitivity to manage the Appeal Court.

Amb. Gotom stated this in his Rayfield residence of Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau state.

He said: "Why will you tell me that my lawyers wrote their own petition in 40 pages and you disregard the entire judgment saying that it should've been 25 pages. What about the substance of that particular case? The substance are very clean and clear".

Amb Gotom further disclosed that: "We were robbed by INEC and we went to Tribunal. Tribunal seek to find the results that was declared, they couldn't get it. It was the secondary document that we gave in the court that is the duplicate of that particular results, it means to say that INEC never brought results to court because they went to INEC office to see if INEC could produce the result, there was no result.

"APC did not bring one single agent, INEC did not bring one single agent and at the end of the day, results were brought from Kanam in plain sheet after discovering that I was leading with 2,2000 votes, they brought results in plain sheet and that's why we went to Tribunal to complain and yet, they accepted results on plain sheets.

"The law says conduct, declare or you review within the next seven days, that's what the Electoral Act says.

"But someone waited and asked a legal Returning Officer to resign and they now brought someone to declare results after two months, the law says seven days why are you coming after two months to make a declaration?” He queried.

GY Gotom opined that the Returning Officer came to court and said that he did not declared anybody as a Senator for Plateau Central yet the Tribunal admitted that and said PDP does not have a structure.

He frowns at the Courts' admitting that PDP on the Plateau does not have a structure saying “what kind of structure are they talking about”? 

He said PDP is the only party on the Plateau that conducted a legal primaries adding: “On the Plateau, even if the congresses are to be conducted 100 times, Hon Chris Hassan, will win 100 times and the factional PDP in question will still go to court 100 times so should I say is a game of madness on the plateau? and the court admitted these kind of nonsense?”.

“We went to Appeal Court to challenge the shenanigans of INEC and the Tribunal and only for you to say that the man who stole the mandate should go free because Amb GY Gotom over complain through our lawyers but I bet you, that case even if it should've been one page of appeal, Diket can never win this particular case and as far as I'm concerned, I am up to challenge this Shenanigans of the Appeal Court. We'll definitely complain at the National Judicial Council and if they don't do justice, the last option is to complain to God ”. He reiterated.

The Senatorial candidate said what transpired during the period of the case  as at that time, Three basic Judges one from Maiduguri, one from Niger and one from Ibadan came to court and his lawyers asked that they should accept the 40 pages because of the substance of this Particular case, they accepted only for them to come back and send only one single Judge and dismissed 11 cases in Nigeria as a whole and in “my own case, they said the lawyers have over written their complain by 40 pages. Let them detach the 15 pages out and talk about even a one line of that particular case, it doesn't show the maturity of the judicial officers and there's no principle of existence on this particular case at all”. 

“If supposing the son of an Emir complain that his goat is been stolen and took the case to court, and for the fact that the son of the emir over complain, then the Judge said the thief should go with that particular goat because he has over complain. Is there principle in their judicial management? I don't think we have judicial managers at the Appeal Court I'm totally embarrassed by their decision and I don't think they deserved to seat at the Appeal Court as managers of the Appeal Court”. he added.

He appeal to his teeming supporters to be resolute and to stay calm as the institutions has betrayed them noting that in future elections in the central zone, they should get their mandate at the collation centre or at the polling unit and never to go to court anymore because they will not obtain justice at the court.