The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Friday, said that protests against the Supreme Court judgement that affirmed his victory in the March 2023 governorship election will not charge anything.
The governor said that the Supreme Court is the ultimate and final count, adding that those who appreciate democracy should take the apex court’s verdict in good faith.
This is as Governor Sule, alongside the immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Tanko Almakura, have paid a ‘thank you’ visit to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after the Supreme Court affirmed his victory.
Asked what his reaction was to the protest in his state over the Supreme Court judgement, Sule 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 who did not vote for us and other sets 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 passed judgement in every one of these states, you will find some people 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 leave it right there because protests or no protest will not change anything; the Supreme Court has already passed its judgement.
“So in our case, when we lost at the tribunal, we told everybody that 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.”
Also asked to react to the apex court judgement that affirmed his victory, the governor commended President Tinubu for allowing the judiciary to do its work without any interference.
He said, “In line with all the judgements 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 for the good people of Nigeria.”
Governor Sule also thanked the five-member justices who delivered judgment in his case without any dissent from any of them.
According to him, “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 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 finished, and as you know, it is also a state that we are very lucky to 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.”
