Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has appealed to people of the state to respect the judgement of the Supreme Court which affirmed his electoral victory.
Speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja yesterday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, the governor who was accompanied by two of his predecessors; Umar Tanko Al-Makura and Abdullahi Adamu, acknowledged the dissenting views of those unhappy with the verdict while praising the justice system.
He emphasised the importance of unity, calling on all citizens, irrespective of political affiliations to join hands in building the state.
He described Nasarawa as a significant state in the North-Central region with commercial quantity of minerals and flourishing agriculture.
He 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 the 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.
“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.”
Parts of state capital erupted in celebration when the news of the outcome of the judgement filtered in.
APC supporters took to the streets in Limawa, Rimi Uku, Main Round About, Makurdi Road and Shendam Road among others in jubilation.
The leader of one the groups, Ayuba Amos, said the Supreme Court affirmed the will of the people by its verdict.
Supporters of the PDP however protested against the verdict, and blocked the Lafia-Jos expressway around the PDP secretariat stretching to the GLO office and close to Sandaji filling station. The protesters were mostly women and youths clad in all-black attires. The development forced motorists to take alternative routes out of the city. A team of policemen led by the commissioner moved in to dispersed the protesters.
