Plateau State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Gabriel Dewan, has administered the oath of office to nine out of the 16 All Progressive Congress (APC) members who won their seats following a ruling by the Appeal Court.
This decision came after the Court of Appeal nullified the election of the 16 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members due to their party’s disqualification from sponsoring candidates.
The Speaker initially refrained from swearing in the affected members based on a court directive pending the resolution of a lawsuit filed by the ousted PDP lawmakers challenging the Appeal Court’s verdict.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Old Government House, the current venue for legislative activities, although no official explanation was provided for why the remaining seven members were not inaugurated.
Sources allege that the members were coerced into resigning before inauguration, while the others refused to comply.
The newly sworn-in lawmakers reportedly agreed to resign voluntarily, with the understanding that failure to comply would lead to their removal from office.