Tribunal Judgement: We’re fully with Governor Abdullahi Sule — Nasarawa West Critical Stakeholders reveals

……Aligned with dissenting judgement affirming Engr. Sule as duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State. 

Following ruling of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia, which returned David Ombugadu of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, as elected Governor of Nasarawa State, groups, individual and members of the All Progressives Congress,  APC,  has held peaceful demonstration across the State in solidarity with the Governor

Below is the full text of press conference by the Nasarawa West Stakeholders

BEING TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE/ TOWNHALL MEETING IN SOLIDARITY WITH HIS EXCELLENCY, ENGINEER ABDULLAHI A. SULE, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF NASARAWA STATE BY THE CRITICAL POLITICAL STAKEHOLDERS DRAWN FROM ACROSS THE ENTIRE NASARAWA WEST SENATORIAL ZONE, HELD IN KEFFI SQUARE TODAY FRIDAY, 13TH OCTOBER, 2023.

POSITION OF NASARAWA WEST CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS ON THE RECENT TRIBUNAL JUDGEMENT

PROTOCOL!

It is very imperative and apposite for us, not just as members of the All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa State, but as men and women of good conscience, agents of change, ambassadors of peace, proponents of justice, unity, and advocates of harmonious inter-ethnic and religious co – existence and tolerance, who are out here today to vociferously express their minds on the unfolding events in our dear state, especially after the judgement of the governorship election petition tribunal.

We, the critical stakeholders in Nasarawa West want to unambiguously re-affirm our unflinching loyalty, support, trust and confidence in His Excellency, Engineer. Abdullahi A Sule having turned out enmasse and massively voted for him during the March 18th Governorship Election.

There is no gainsaying the fact that, His Excellency, Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule brought along into the governance of Nasarawa State his enormous experience garnered from the organized private sector, pedigree and unparalleled commitment which saw to the steady transformation of our dear State and to place Nasarawa State on the path of genuine sustainable growth and development.

These rare leadership qualities being demonstrated by the Governor, marked by transparency, accountability, prudent management of resources and ultimately, the fear of God, is bringing much needed dividends of democracy and development in Nasarawa State as can be seen in the improved internally generated revenue, attraction of foreign investments, provision of quality and affordable health care, roads, employment opportunities for our teeming youths just but to mention a few.

The judgement delivered recently by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal (GEPT), nullifying the election of His Excellency, Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule was not only anticlimactic but a miscarriage of justice.

We therefore wish to seize this opportunity to express strongly our dissatisfaction with the ruling of the tribunal, even though one of the three-man panel of judges provided us with a glimmer of hope by presenting a dissenting opinion on the issue.

The entire people of Nasarawa West senatorial zone are not happy over the tribunal judgement and would therefore wish to convey our dissatisfaction with the ruling for people of conscience to weigh the matter with a view to taking appropriate steps to avoid this glaring miscarriage of justice.

While we commend the maturity demonstrated and the decision taken by our leader to seek redress in line with the dictates of our constitution and electoral act, by appealing the ruling of the lower court, we wish to draw the attention of the public on manifest shortcomings observed by legal practitioners, which we hope would to addressed appropriately by the Court of Appeal.

It’s perplexing for instance, for the tribunal to say that the 18th March Governorship Election In Nasarawa State was not conducted in substantial compliance to the electoral act and yet go ahead to declare the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, David Ombugadu as winner of the sake election.

Indeed, the ruling of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is seen by many to be characterized by acts lacking not only in law and logic but has no precedence in legal jurisprudence.

It’s on this note that, we the critical stakeholders from Nasarawa West, wish to call on the judges of the Court of Appeal to diligently review the tribunal judgement and to allow the will of the people of Nasarawa State to prevail. Anything short of this, will amount to a travesty and total negation of the guiding principles of democracy in which the minority would always have its say but the majority will have its way. We voted for His Excellency, Engineer Abdullahi A Sule during the March 18th governorship election. The court has a lesser task affirming this position than the other way round.

In fact, it’s only right to assert that, there is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice. The Court of Appeal must endeavor to right the wrongs by critically reviewing the judgement of the tribunal and to uphold the election of His Excellency, Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule.

It’s at this juncture that while we await a favourable outcome from the higher court, we wish to appeal for calm. In the spirit of sportsmanship and in line with the call earlier made by Governor Sule, we hereby call on all members and supporters of our great party, the APC to remain calm and to eschew any act capable of breaching the peace.

In the midst of relentless attacks and abuse on the person of our amiable Governor by persons who obviously do not mean well for our dear state, as can be seen by their utterances and conducts following the trubunal judgement, we want to still appeal to our members and supporters not to join issues with our detractors but to patiently wait for the matter to be resolved through constitutional means as is being done by appealing the tribunal judgement.

As a law abiding people, we therefore enjoin our supporters to distance themselves from acts capable of heating up the polity. Let us all remain prayerful as a support and identify with our leader in the collective determination to affirm our victory during the March 18th governorship election.

In conclusion, we want to acknowledge and appreciate deeply our major stakeholders for their supports to the success of the event, we equally thanked all our supporters and associates across the zone and party line who participated in this deserving solidarity to our amiable Governor and progressive people of Nasarawa State. We wish you all journey mercy back to your various destinations, with Engr AA Sule at the helm of affairs, Nasarawa State will continue to remain great.

Thank you all and God bless!

Hon Isaiah K Agah.
Chairman Org Committee and Ag APC Zonal Chairman, Nasarawa West.