10 months ago
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Nasarawa Governor Abdullahi Sule
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has said the protests in Lafia, the state capital, will not change the Supreme Court’s judgment, which affirmed him as governor and voided the nullification of his election by the Appeal Court.
Sule spoke to State House correspondents after an audience with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
He said, “People who understand what democracy is all about will understand that the Supreme Court is the ultimate and is the final.
“Those who appreciate or respect democracy should actually leave it right there, because protests or no protests will not change anything. The Supreme Court has already passed its judgment.”
Sule, who was at the Presidential Villa alongside two former governors of Nasarawa, Abdullahi Adamu and Tanko Al-Makura, had been affirmed by the Supreme Court as the duly elected governor just hours earlier.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, the apex court upheld the declaration of Sule of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the governorship election of March 18, 2023.
However, the development did not go well with some residents of the state, especially supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, David Ombugadu, who barricaded major roads in protest.
This includes the Lafia-Jos Road, where protesters reportedly burned tires in front of the state secretariat of the party, forcing motorists to use alternative routes.
The governor acknowledged dissenting opinions regarding the decision while commending the justice system for ensuring what he called “fairness without undue interference.”
“It 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. If out of these 200,000 people that did not vote for us, another set of 50 people are protesting somewhere, or 100 people, call it even 1,000 people that are protesting somewhere, it’s a day that not everybody will be happy.
“So in our own case, when we lost at the tribunal, we told everybody, nobody should protest. And that’s why nobody protested, you know, so, but that is the level of maturity that you will see from one political party or the other.”
Sule urged unity among citizens, irrespective of political affiliations, for the state’s progress.
He also emphasised Nasarawa’s economic potential, citing commercial mineral discoveries and a flourishing agriculture sector, underscoring the state’s importance in the North Central region.
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