Nasarawa Citizens Call on NBA to Oppose Tribunal’s Judgment

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

Nasarawa State citizens yesterday appealed to the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to stand up against Justice Ezekiel Ajayi’s tribunal judgment that sacked the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule.

Justice Ajayi in a split decision of two out of the three-man panel of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Governor Sule and declared David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the state governorship election.

However, citizens of Nasarawa State in their hundreds matched in major streets of Lafia yesterday for a peaceful demonstration to inform the world that they were not happy with the judgment.

Speaking to journalists during the peaceful protest, a youth leader in the state, Abdullahi Igbo, said citizens of the state were calling on the NBA as custodians of the rule of law to stand up against the judgment of Justice Ezekiel Ajayi.

According to Igbo, “The judgment is perverse and herculean without regard to evidence and the rules governing proceedings in Nigeria. 

We came out to protest the tribunal judgment that sacked our leader, Governor Abdullahi Sule, who was voted for by the majority in the state.

“We want to tell the whole world that we are practicing democracy and not autocracy. Therefore, the will of the majority people of Nasarawa State should be allowed to prevail.”

Also, a Special Assistant to Governor Sule, Adamu Musa Alkali, urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters in the state to remain calm as the appellate court would do the needful and reaffirm the mandate given to the governor.

Alkali, while speaking to journalists in Lafia during the solidarity match for Governor Sule, believed that the tribunal also committed a monumental error in declaring the PDP candidate as the winner of the gubernatorial election in Nasarawa State.

The special assistant, therefore, identified with the dissenting judgment which he said was firmly rooted in law, facts and logic.

“I want to assure all our teeming supporters within Nasarawa State that Governor Sule has since directed his legal team to appeal the erroneous ruling of two members of the three-man panel of the tribunal, and shall do everything within the confines of the law to ensure that the mandate given to him remains in place till 2027,” he stated.