Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has called on all citizens of the state to respect the judgment of the Supreme Court, which affirmed his electoral victory.
Governor Sule made the call on Friday, January 19, while speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after meeting with President Bola Tinubu, moments after the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on the election petition appeal from Nasarawa State.
Governor Sule, who was accompanied by two of his predecessors; former governors Umar Tanko Al-Makura, and Abdullahi Adamu, acknowledged the dissenting views of those unhappy with the verdict while praising the justice system for ensuring “fairness without undue interference”.
He further emphasized the importance of unity, calling on all citizens, irrespective of political affiliations, to join hands in building the state, highlighting Nasarawa as a significant state in the North-Central region, boasting a commercial quantity discovery of minerals and a flourishing agriculture sector.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, affirmed the Court of Appeal judgment that voided the nullification of the election of Sule.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, upheld the declaration of Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the governorship election that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
Reacting to a question about the pockets of protests that greeted his Supreme Court victory in his state, Governor Sule noted that people who value and respect democracy will know that the Supreme is the final court of adjudication, which decision cannot affect by protests.
“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 who did not vote for us and another 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.
“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.”
Disclosing the reason for his visit, alongside his predecessors, Sule said: “In line with all the judgments that have been going on in the country, I think first and foremost, we must continue to thank Almighty God for giving us good health and the opportunity to see the kind of democracy we are seeing. We must thank Mr. President, and that’s what brought us here to the Villa.
“We thank him for the kind of role he continues to play in all of these, by ensuring that fairness is done without undue interference, allowing the justice system to work the way it’s supposed to. So, we must express our appreciation to him for doing all that to the good people of Nigeria.
“As far as we are concerned in Nasarawa State, we have won at the court of appeals, 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 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 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 mineral 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”, he said.
