The Nasarawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has rejected the Dismissal of Abdullahi Sule as the Governor of Nasarawa State by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in the state.
The tribunal had dismissed Sule on Monday and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw his Certificate of Return and give it to David Ombugadu, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate who won the state’s governorship election in 2023.
Aliyu Bello, the state chairman of the APC, responded to the development on Wednesday at the party’s secretariat in Lafia by saying that the party thought the tribunal made a grave mistake by naming the PDP candidate as the state’s victor.
The Nasarawa APC also bemoaned the overwhelming and undisputed nature of the evidence and arguments used by its legal team and that of INEC to refute Ombugadu and the PDP’s petition, and questioned how the tribunal reached its conclusion.
As a result, the party pledged its unwavering loyalty to governor Abdullahi Sule throughout the legal proceedings and expressed its full support for his decision to appeal the tribunal’s decision.
“It is the candid and considered opinion of our great party, the APC that the election tribunal erred in arriving at its decision. Our great party therefore, unequivocally, and categorically rejects the split judgment of the Tribunal of two to one annulling the re-election of His Excellency, Abdullahi Sule, for a second term, as the Executive Governor of Nasarawa state.
“We identify ourselves with the dissenting judgment which is firmly rooted in law, facts and logic. This further strengthened our resolve to pursue the appeal.
“We reassure His Excellency of the party’s support and loyalty. We are very optimistic that the inadvertent decision of the tribunal is only a temporary drawback, which will be redressed at the Appeal Court.
“We also wish to urge His Excellency not to be perturbed by this political blink, but to remain focused, and ever preoccupied with the task of providing good governance to the State, which he has been doing over the past years,” Aliyu Bello added.
While calling on supporters of the party to remain calm in spite of the unfavourable judgement, the state APC Chairman warned members of the PDP not to harass or intimidate any resident of the state under the guise of celebrating their candidate’s victory at the tribunal.
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