Protest Breaks Out In Nasarawa Over Supreme Court Verdict
….Protest Won’t Change Apex Court Ruling – Nasarawa Gov
….Supreme Court affirms Dapo Abiodun, 12 Others Elections as Governors
Protest has broken out in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, following the Supreme Court verdict which affirmed the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule in the March 18, 2023 election in the state.
The Lafia-Jos road has been completely blocked as the protesters lit bonfire to prevent travelers and other road users.
Our reporter, who was at the scene of the protest, reports that motorists had to take alternative routes out of Lafia.
An automobile mechanic, Mallam Dogo Audu, called for the deployment of more security operatives to restore calm and avert escalation.
Our correspondent also reports that shops owners and business centres have shut down.
Reacting to the protest, Sule asked the protesters 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.
He gave the advice on Friday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Sule, who paid a thank you visit to the president in company of his two predecessors in Nasarawa State, Senators Abdullahi Adams and Umar Tanko Al-Makura, said protests would not change the verdict of apex court.
He called on his opponents, without any grudge whatsoever, to come and join him in order to build the state.
When asked about his reaction to the protest, he 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.”
Protest Won’t Change Apex Court Ruling – Nasarawa Gov
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has advised people protesting after the Supreme Court affirmed his election in the March 18, 2023 election 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.
He gave the advice on Friday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Sule, who paid a thank you visit to the president in company of his two predecessors in Nasarawa State, Senators Abdullahi Adams and Umar Tanko Al-Makura, said protests would not change the verdict of apex court.
He called on his opponents, without any grudge whatsoever, to come and join him in order to build the state
“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.”
Supreme Court affirms Oborevwori as Delta Governor
The Supreme Court, on Friday, affirmed the election victory of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed an appeal the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, filed to challenge the outcome of the governorship election held in the state on March 18, 2023.
The court, in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Inyang Okoro, held that the appeal lacked merit.
It held that the APC and its candidate did not prove that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2023.
The court dismissed Omo-Agege’s contention that some of the result sheets that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, relied upon to declare Oborevwori as the winner of the election, did not have serial numbers.
According to the court, even if the total number of INEC forms that the Appellants complained about are removed, it would still not affect the margin of lead that was in Oborevwori’s favour.
It held that the Appellants failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law to warrant the setting aside of both the Court of Appeal judgement and the verdict of the Delta State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Consequently, it dismissed the petition without cost.
It will be recalled that INEC declared that Oborevwori of the PDP pollod 360, 234 votes to win the governorship election ahead of Omo-Agege of the APC who secured 240, 229 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the result, Omo-Agege, who is the immediate past Deputy President of the Senate, approached the court to nullify the outcome of the election.
