Workers in Plateau State have returned to their respective workplaces after the two-month strike action initiated by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) Trade Union Side, Plateau State Council was suspended last week Friday.
A visit to the Joseph Gomwalk State Secretariat in Jos, the state capital, revealed a busy atmosphere on the first day of resumption. Both of the secretariat gates, previously locked, were now open, allowing motorists and workers to enter.
Some of the workers were seen sitting under the trees, with the growing grasses in their environment stirring them in the faces.
The resumption is not the same with Local Government workers who’s 17 Council Secretariats were under sealed by the former Inspector General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba (rtd) following the suspension of former Local Government Chairmen by Governor Caleb Mutfwang on the recommendation of the State House of Assembly who are under investigation for financial misappropriation.
The former IGP through the State Commissioner of Police CP Bartholomew Onyeka in a statement signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer DSP Alfred Alabo said the action is in accordance with the exercise of their constitutional responsibility as the Nigeria Police Force.
In Jos South Local Government Secretariat, workers who turned out were cautioned by the security agencies not to enter the Secretariat.
The Plateau State NLC Chairman Comrade Eugine Manji in an interview with Daily Sun Newspaper said the Union has done her part adding that the onus liaised with the State government to ensure the Council Areas are open.
“We were on strike before the closure of the Local Government Secretariats, the onus liaised with the State government, they have different agencies that will handle it. Labour can not decide on who takes over,” he stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer DSP Alfred Alabo told Daily Sun Newspaper on Monday that “Everything remain the same, if there is any new development we will tell the public. Did you hear anybody fighting in any Local Government Secretariats, the people know that already. We have not received any directives yet.” he explained
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has omitted former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, from its final list of governorship candidates for Gombe State ahead of the February 6, 2027 election.
Politics Nigeria reports that the commission released a list of 16 cleared candidates for the election, but Pantami’s name was missing despite his earlier inclusion in the provisional list published on August 29.
Among the candidates on the final list are Bala Bello Tinka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Babayo Ardo Kumo of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Others include Zubairu Mu’azu Halilu of the Labour Party (LP), Lamela L. Silas of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Ibrahim Jalo Abubakar of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Adamu Mohammed Ma’aji of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Pantami’s exclusion comes amid a series of legal disputes over his emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.
The former minister had initially sought the APC governorship ticket but left the party after it settled for Gwamna as its consensus candidate. He subsequently joined the PDP and emerged as the party’s flag bearer through voice affirmation at its governorship primary.
However, a Federal High Court sitting in Gombe nullified his initial emergence on May 26, following a challenge to the primary process.
The court ordered a fresh primary election, which Pantami won on September 29 with 2,054 votes, defeating Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry.
Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence, arguing that the required primary election was not properly conducted before the former minister was declared the party’s candidate.
Despite winning the court-ordered rerun, Pantami’s eligibility remained in doubt following the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment on provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing political party membership registers and candidate eligibility.
The Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.
The provisions bar political parties from fielding candidates whose names were not included in the membership registers submitted to INEC within the stipulated period.
INEC has maintained that parties found to have violated the requirements will not be permitted to participate in the elections through candidates whose nominations breach the law.
Mohammed Haruna, an INEC national commissioner in charge of information and voter education, said the commission would not allow parties to replace candidates affected by the provisions.
Haruna made the clarification during an appearance on Trust TV’s programme on Wednesday evening, explaining that allowing substitutions would enable political parties to benefit from their own violations.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan
He cited previous disputes involving Zamfara and Plateau states to illustrate the consequences of parties failing to comply with electoral requirements.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” Haruna said.
He added that allowing parties to substitute candidates in such circumstances would amount to permitting them to benefit from an offence they had committed.
Haruna also indicated that the commission expected to make a definite pronouncement on the implications of the Supreme Court judgment by the following Tuesday.