Court Ruling: Plateau LP gov’ship candidate, Margif to Appeal judgement

By Kingsley Chukwuka

The embattled governorship candidate of the Plateau State Labour Party (LP), Amb. Yohana Margif has expressed dissatisfaction with the court judgement that affirmed the candidacy of his rival, Dr. Patrick Dakum who is in a running battle with him over the party governorship ticket.

He said her lordship, Justice Dorcas Agishi of the federal High Court in Jos, did not dwell on his prayers to come about the judgement that affirmed Dakum.

Speaking with Journalists in Jos on Sunday, Margif, said he will be heading to the Appeal Court to contest the judgement of the federal High Court, saying he observed Agishi placed heavy reliance on issues that are entirely unrelated.

It would be recalled that a Federal High Court in Jos on Friday affirmed the candidacy of Patrick Dakum as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Plateau.

Also recall that the party had been in crisis following the emergence of two governorship candidates – Yohanna Margif and Patrick Dakum.

The two candidates had earlier contested and lost the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket.

Margif was however the first to move to the Labour Party to obtain the Party governorship ticket, while Dakum after a few months claimed a fresh primary election was conducted through affirmation, which made him the new governorship candidate of the Party.

The affirmation was expected to effectively void the earlier primary election that produced Yohanna Margif as candidate.

Dakum also alleged that Margif, who was the first to pick the ticket on June 9, 2022, had reportedly withdrawn from the race.

But Margif, who rejected claims that he had withdrawn from the race,  approached the court to discountenance Dakum’s emergence as LP candidate.

He told the court that the said withdrawal letter was “fabricated by some mischief makers to cause havoc and mislead loyal members of the party”.

However, Justice Agishi, while delivering the judgement, stated that the court was convinced, based on evidence before it, that the plaintiff actually signed the letter of withdrawal.

Agishi said that evidence before the court also showed that Margif voluntarily withdrew from the race and was subsequently expelled from the party, following petitions against him.

Reacting, Margif said: “I observed that the Hon. Agishi placed heavy reliance on issues that are entirely unrelated to my lawsuit to arrive at the verdict of the Court in her judgement; Expulsion from the party, Failure to oppose the second primary election of the Party on 5th August 2022 and the Endorsement of the National Chairman and Secretary on a purported withdrawal letter dated 5th August 2022”, he said.

Margif said on the contrary his prayers to the court were: “He did not personally submit any letter of voluntary withdrawal from the governorship race in Plateau to the national Chairman and Secretary of the Party, that his lawyers delivered his letter to LP and INEC on 2nd August 2022 to debunk rumours that he had withdrawn from the governorship race in Plateau”.

He continued: “That the purported letter of withdrawal that is said to have been endorsed by the two principal officers the Party does not bear the name and LP membership card number of Amb Yohana Margif, that as a candidate of LP, Margif emerged from a valid internal processes of the Party; from screening, primary election, issuance of certificate of return, filing of nomination papers with INEC, valid nomination of his running mate and the eventual publication of his name by INEC”, he said.

Margif assured that based on the above, he will escalate his prayers to the Appeal Court for redress.