Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari has said the ruling of the Appeal Court in Kaduna on the March 9, 2019 governorship election is a victory for Katsina people who trooped out to overwhelmingly elect him for a second term in office.
He therefore urged the opposition to work with him to move the state forward as one cohesive body and put behind all bickering and potential distractions over electoral issues.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its 2019 governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado, had dragged Governor Masari before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal challenging his victory at the poll.
But the tribunal, in a majority judgment on September 21, 2019, nullified the petition filed by Lado and the PDP for what it termed as lacking merit.
Dissatisfied with the tribunal’s verdict, Lado and his party approached the upper division of the court in Kaduna but their appeal was also dismissed by a five-member panel in a unanimous judgment on November 14, 2019.
Governor Masari, who was reacting to the verdict of the Appeal Court at a press conference on Thursday night at the Government House, dedicated the victory to God and the people of the state whom he said stood firm to ensure his re-election.
He extends a hand of fellowship to those who felt aggrieved at the outcome of the election and went to court, noting that it was within their democratic rights.
“The victory is not mine alone, it is the victory for Katsina State. They came out and voted for us with over 1.2 million votes. It is only in Nigeria that what happened would happen because someone who scored less than one quarter of what we scored is still contesting the election.
“Himself and his party have exercised their constitutional rights. We are not worried, it is part of the game that we are in and is not wrong in going to the court,” he explained.
The governor, however, said he was perturbed all along “because anything that goes into court, one is not sure of the outcome until it is done”.
