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Following the affirmation of Governor Abdullahi Sule as the authentic winner of the 2023 governorship election in Nasarawa State, the Peoples Democratic Party, on Tuesday called on the Supreme Court to carefully review the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal.
The state election petitions tribunal had, on October 2, sacked Sule of the All Progressives Congress and declared David Ombugadu of the PDP as the winner of the election.
The appellate court held that the tribunal acted wrongly when it re-computed votes and made the declaration that returned the PDP candidate as the winner of the election and affirmed Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the state governor.
PDP women leader in the state, Stella Oboshi while speaking at the end of a peaceful protest held against the judgment in Lafia, the state capital, appealed to the apex court to thoroughly look into the appeal court’s judgment in the interest of upholding the ideals of democracy in Nigeria.
She expressed concern that the judgment fell short of real democratic principles that govern the nation while expressing worry over the decision of the appeal court, which seemed to shield the insincerity of the Independent National Electoral Commission in its declaration of Sule as the duly elected governor of the state.
She highlighted specific instances of irregularities that were overlooked by the court under the guise of technicalities, saying that in the Gayam ward of Lafia Local Government Area, the total number of accredited voters was 13,000 while an astonishing 33,000 votes were given to the APC alone.
She added, “Similarly, in the Chiroma ward, the number of accredited voters was documented as 21,000 but INEC announced a staggering 59,000 votes solely for the APC.”
She said it was the responsibility of the judiciary to uphold the principles of justice, fairness, and merit in all its judgments, stressing that in this particular case, the lack of a thorough investigation into the glaring irregularities is an affront to these principles.
”It undermines the trust of the people in the justice system” she insisted.
The PDP chieftain believes it is essential that the judiciary, as a pillar of democracy, does not inadvertently provide a platform for the perpetration of electoral injustice and expressed displeasure over the undue brutalisation of some women supporters of the party on Monday by security personnel in the state.
She urged the security agencies to desist from harassing members and supporters of the party while reiterating that they had carried out their protests peacefully.
She said they have been demonstrating peacefully for over six months since the declaration of Governor Abdullahi Sule by INEC as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state, pointing out that they have never destroyed anything or shown any act of disobedience to the laws of the country.
The woman leader insisted that who they voted for was not the person INEC announced and wanted justice to prevail but lamented that security agents brutalized some of the women for embarking on a peaceful protest.
She called on security agencies to protect the women and not attack them because their intention for embarking on the peaceful protest was to seek justice and not to foment any form of trouble in the state.
