Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has advised people protesting after the Supreme Court affirmed his election in the March 18, 2023 election to learn from the members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who heeded the advice not to protest when he initially lost at the tribunal.
He gave the advice on Friday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Sule, who paid a thank you visit to the president in company of his two predecessors in Nasarawa State, Senators Abdullahi Adams and Umar Tanko Al-Makura, said protests would not change the verdict of apex court.
He called on his opponents, without any grudge whatsoever, to come and join him in order to build the state.
Earlier on Friday, there was a protest in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, following the Supreme Court verdict which affirmed the election of Governor Sule.
The Lafia-Jos road was completely blocked as the protesters lit bonfire to prevent travelers and other road users.
When asked about his reaction to the protest, he 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 that did not vote for us and other set 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 actually passed judgment, in every one of these states, you will find some people are 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 actually leave it right there because protests or no protest will not change anything, the Supreme Court has already passed his judgment.
So, in our own case, when we lost at the tribunal, we told everybody, 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.”
