Andrew Ajijah
The 2019 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, has reserved judgement between the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Gen. Jeremiah Useni and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Simon Lalong, till today, Wednesday, October 2, 2019.
The Tribunal had set Wednesday to decide who truly won the 2019 gubernatorial elections in the state.
It would be recalled that the said governorship election in Plateau State ended with a re-run following inconclusive polls at the earlier date.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress winner of the said elections, with a slim margin between the candidate of the PDP Gen Jeremiah Useni, the immediate past Senator who represented Plateau South at the 8th National Assembly.
As a result, there is currently tension in Jos, as citizens anxiously await the outcome of the judgement.
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A check at the venue of the Tribunal in the early hours of Wednesday showed that there was a tight security in and around the promises, as most major routes leading to the Tribunal sitting had been barricaded.
Spokesman of the Nigerian Police in the state, DSP Terna Tyopev, exclusively told The Nigerian Xpress that security arrangements to protect lives and property during and after the judgement had been made.
A few journalists were, on Teusday, accredited to cover the Tribunal sitting.
Already, some PDP supporters, in Jos, are in high spirit, singing songs of victory, believing that they would be favoured at the Tribunal.
Recall that the lead counsel to the PDP and its candidate, Barr. Mike Ozokheme SAN had told journalists at the end of Tribunal sitting, during the final written addressees, that the worst case would be his client get a rerun election.
However, his counterpart, the lead counsel to the APC and the its candidate, Barr. Garba Pwul SAN, had also assured in an interview with journalists, that the Tribunal would re-affirm the victory of his clients, stressing that PDP had no case.
Should the governorship election tribunal sitting in Jos toe the part of the 2019 national and state assembly election tribunals, which could not quash any election petition, the APC might laugh last.
Meanwhile, there were anxieties between supporters of both political parties in the state.
It was learnt that the three-man panel of judges had been ‘missing’ since the date for the judgement was announced.