From Jude Owuamanam, Jos .
Thirteen members of the Labour Party who contested election into the Plateau State House of Assembly in 2023 have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections in the state, bringing a new twist  in the impasse that has rocked the legislature since the Appeal Court judgment which ousted the 16 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members from the House.
The appellate court had ruled that PDP had no structure to sponsor the members and therefore nullified their election, including that of Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
But this was reversed by the Supreme Court, which held that the Appeal Court had no right to adjudicate on an entirely party matter. But it couldn’t do anything in the case of the lawmakers, since their own matter ends at the Appeal Court.
However since the ouster of the PDP members and the declaration of their All Progressives Congress (APC) counterparts as the winner of the election, the House, led by the Speaker Gabriel Dewan has refused to inaugurate them.
But the PDP members had insisted that the same scenario of the governor must be applied to them since it was the same party and exco that sponsored both elections.
In a statement in Jos spokesman for the 13 LP candidates and a former  lawmaker representing Shendam Constituency, . Henry Yunkwap, said that their demand stemmed  from the exclusion of the LP logo on the ballot papers during the 2023 state assembly elections.
He asked the electoral body to adhere  to , a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja, which had already invalidated the election due to the omission of LP logo.
Moreover Yunkwap said that the delay in the swearing-in of the 16 APC lawmakers is closely tied to the legal actions being pursued by them.
Special Adviser to the Plateau State Governor on Strategic Communication,v Timothy Golu, had  stated on March 19 that two injunctions, including one from LP candidates, were served on the speaker days before the scheduled swearing-in of new house members.
Also, Plateau State Chairman of LP, Mrs. Grace Zamfara, however refuted Golu’s assertion, saying that the refusal by the Dewan-led assembly to inaugurate the APC members had nothing to do with the court injunction from a suit filed by LP candidates of the state house of assembly.
Yunkwap said, “The court of competent jurisdiction granted an order that no election should be conducted in the 13 Plateau State House of Assembly constituencies without the names of the LP candidates, and anything short of that renders the election null and void.”
 “We are now in court seeking the enforcement of the original court orders by asking INEC for fresh elections in those 13 state constituencies.”
Yunkwap disclosed that their counsel had  served the speaker of the house the court injunction.
He said this might be the reason why the inauguration of the APC members was being delayed and urged INEC to do the needful by conducting fresh election to fill the vacant seats