The Attorney-General of Plateau State has picked Holes in the Court Order made by Hon. Justice S. P. Gang of the Plateau State High Court, sitting as Vacation Judge.

It would be recalled that Justice Gang had granted an Order Ex- Parte dated the 5th September 2022, after hearing a Motion Exparte brought by Counsel to Architect Hudu Manomi, Justin Chuwang, Esq., for an Interim Order of the Court granting the Claimant/Applicant Judgment Security in the Sum of N2,337,546,667.29k (Two Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven Million, Five Hundred and Forty-Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty-Seven Naira Twenty-Nine Kobo).

Justice Gang had ordered that the Plateau State Government and Mangu Local Government should pay the said Sum of N2,337,546,667.29k (Two Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven Million, Five Hundred and Forty-Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty-Seven Naira Twenty-Nine Kobo) into an Interest Yielding Account to be maintained at UBA PLC by the Deputy Sheriff of the High Court as Judgment Security, being supposedly, the current value of entitlements and remuneration due to Architect Hudu Manomi from the year 2004 when he was selected Sum Pyem till July, 2022 pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Summons filed in the Suit.

The Attorney-General has, in an Application asked Hon Justice Gang to set aside his Order for being a Nullity. That the Plateau State High Court has no jurisdiction to issue such Order in an Employer-Employee matter which only the National Industrial Court has exclusive jurisdiction to entertain, under Section 254C of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Furthermore, the Order was issued in disregard of the Judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on the 3rd June 2022, reported in Law Pavilion Electronic Reports as Manomi & Anor v. Dakat & Ors (2022) LPELR-57834(SC), where the Supreme Court dismissed a similar Application filed by Architect Hudu Manomi seeking an Order to compel the Governor of Plateau State and Mangu Local Government to install him as Sum Pyem.

In dismissing the said application, the Supreme Court made the following Findings:
1. That the process leading to the Selection of Architect Manomi was inconclusive and as such, he cannot demand to be installed a Sum Pyem until the process is concluded.
2. That the present occupant of the Stool, His Royal Highness Charles Mato Dakat was selected and installed as Sum Pyem when there was no pending Suit, Appeal or any Order seeking to restrain the Selection.
3. That despite the selection and installation of His Royal Highness Charles Mato Dakat, since 2004, the Claimant never deemed it fit to join him to any Suit or challenge his position.

In his Application, the Attorney-General stated that no Judgment was placed before Justice Gang by the Applicant in proof of his entitlement to the Sum of N2,337,546,667.29k or any Sum for that matter awarded in his favour by any Court, to warrant the issuance of the Order that the State Government should pay N2,337,546,667.29k into Court as Judgment Security.

He asked the Court to set aside the incompetent Order for having been issued without Jurisdiction and being based on misrepresentation of material facts by the Claimant. Meanwhile, the Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the pending Application.