Following the Supreme Court verdict affirming the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has duly elected governor of the state, a call has been made by the governor to the people protesting the apex judgment to learn from the maturity displayed by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who heeded the advice not to protest when he lost at the tribunal.
Governor Sule, while advising on Friday when answering questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to pay a thank you visit to the president in the company of his two predecessors in Nasarawa State, Senators Abdullahi Adams and Umar Tanko Al-Makura, said protests would not change the verdict of the apex court, called on his opponents, without any grudge whatsoever, to come and join him to build the state.
The Informant247 gathered earlier that there was a protest in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, following the Supreme Court verdict which affirmed the election of Governor Sule, whereby the Lafia-Jos road was blocked entirely as the protesters lit a bonfire to prevent travellers and other road users.
Meanwhile, while reacting to the incident of the protest, Sule said: “Nasarawa is a state where we had over 600,000 votes, and we won with over 340,000 votes, so you will know that over 200,000 people did not vote for us. So, if out of these 200,000 people that did not vote for us and other set of 1,000 people are protesting somewhere, then you will know because it’s a day that not everybody will be happy.
“In every state where the Supreme Court actually passed judgment, in every one of these states, you will find some people are happy and some other people not happy. But I think people who understand what democracy is all about will understand that the Supreme Court is the ultimate and is the final, and those who appreciate or respect democracy should actually leave it right there because protests or no protest will not change anything; the Supreme Court has already passed his judgment.
“So, in our own case, when we lost at the tribunal, we told everybody, nobody should protest, and that’s why nobody protested, but that is the level of maturity that you will see from one political party or the other. We are a very mature political party, we’re the ruling party in the country, we’re the ruling party in the state, and we’re showing a good example, so that’s why we will not protest.”
Governor Sule thanked Almighty God for the opportunity of democracy in Nigeria and the President for ensuring that fairness was done without undue interference and allowing the justice system to work.
He said: “As far as we are concerned in Nasarawa State, we have won at the Court of Appeal unanimously. We also won today with the five justices being led by a panel of the highly respected Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun (JSC). So, we have to thank Almighty Allah that we also had all the five justices in support of us, and that’s why we came.
“All the issues, as far as elections are concerned, are over today. We call on our opponents, without any grudge whatsoever, to come and join with us so we can build our state. Nasarawa State is next to Abuja. Nasarawa State is, today in the North-Central, the only state that has commercial quantity discovery of oil.
“It is the only state, so far, that is building minerals processing plants. We already have one of the lithium factories almost concluded, and as you know, it is also a state that we are very lucky where we have agriculture that is flourishing. In fact, on my right hand, is the biggest local farmer that we have in the state, and he’s rushing to go back for his harvest because he’s started harvesting.”
The Informant247 had earlier reported that the Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Friday, January 19, affirmed the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as duly elected governor in the state
The Informant247 had earlier reported that the state election petition tribunal had sacked Governor Sule and declared David Ombugadu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the winner of the March 18, 2023 election.
Meanwhile, the appeal court reinstated Sule and held that the tribunal wrongly relied on the evidence of eight PDP witnesses, whose statements on oath were not front-loaded alongside the petition.
Reading the lead judgement, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun held that the appeal lacks merit.
INEC declares APC’s Sule winner of Nasarawa gov’ship election
The Informant247 reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election in Nasarawa state.
Prof Ishaya Tanko, the INEC returning officer, while announcing the results, said Sule polled 347,209 votes to defeat his closest and main challenger, David Umbugadu of the PDP, who garnered 283,16 votes.
The legal tussle
The Appeal Court, sitting in Abuja on November 23, upturned the tribunal’s decision to affirm the victory of Abdullahi Sule, the Nasarawa state governor.
The Informant247 reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sule of the All Progressives Congress as the winner, while David Ombugad of the Peoples Democratic Party came second.
Meanwhile, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi-led tribunal led in a split judgment held that based on evidence from the various polling units before the tribunal, Ombugadu had the majority of valid votes at the election
Dissatisfied with the tribunal verdict, Sule appealed the judgment and asked the appellate court to set it aside.
However, in a judgement delivered by the appellate court on Thursday, expunged from its records the evidence and exhibits from
PW5, 6,7,8,12,13,20, and 21 which the tribunal relied on.