The People’s Democratic Party, PDP Nasarawa state chapter has appealed to the Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Kashim Shetima, to distance himself from the activities of the traditional rulers working against the governorship election tribunal sitting in the state.
The party had accused traditional rulers in the state of using external forces to influence the judgement at the ongoing governorship tribunal sitting in Lafia.
This is just as the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State on Public Affairs, comrade Peter Ahemba, described the allegation as baseless and laughable.
The PDP state chairman, Chief Francis Orogu, who made the allegation in Lafia while addressing journalists, also said Shetima should tore the truthful path of his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to him, traditional rulers in the state were allegedly abandoning their traditional role by dabbling into politics and taking sides on issues bordering on the interest of the entire state.
“We are aware of the position of the traditional rulers in the state who have taken to side with a political party before, during, and after the last elections. They have vowed that they will use their position to ensure nobody else wins the seat of the governor if not Abdullahi Sule.
“We are not also surprised that they have organized themselves to visit the Vice president to lobby him to influence the decision of the tribunal in favour of Governor Abdullahi Sule.
“Nothing is hidden in this era of digital age where information travels fast; nothing done in secret can no longer be hidden. The traditional rulers claimed the visit was to thank the vice president for appointing their son and Daughter from the state as ministers. Is it the Vice president who appointed the ministers? The Chairman questioned.
“We are aware that these traditional rulers who are former justices have their influences in the judicial world. But we believe God almighty has the final say, too,” the PDP said.
The state PDP boss appealed to the Vice president to be the father to all and not to allow his honorable office to be used to frustrate court proceedings, stressing that allowing justice to reign without tempering or interfering with the decision of the court on election matters will mean well for the nation’s political system.
The PDP chairman also appealed to the traditional rulers in the state to restrict themselves to their core mandates of ensuring peaceful coexistence and security of their communities instead of engaging in politics of rancor and sentiment.
While expressing the strong convictions on the position of the tribunal that justice would be delivered added that his party and the governorship candidate, Dr. David Emmanuel Ombugadu, would shame those seeking manipulation of the tribunal judgement in the state because Nasarawa people spoke through their votes ever since.
Reacting to the allegations in a press statement made available to Nigerian Tribune Saturday in Lafia, the Senior Special Assistant SSA, to the governor of Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Comrade Peter Ahemba said since the outright rejection of the PDP governorship candidate, by the electorates in the last general election, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has been working to acquire power through the back door, even when the electorates have spoken to the party and its candidate in a language they ought to have understood.
While describing the allegations as baseless and laughable, he added that the Party must be reminded that the resort to cheap blackmail of traditional rulers and propaganda will certainly not help matters, hence, the call on the party and its agents to desist from such acts.
While he enjoined the members of the public to disregard the said allegations as neither the governor nor any traditional ruler is making a move to influence the tribunal as alleged, Comrade Ahemba said Governor Abdullahi A. Sule was confident that the judiciary will do justice to the matter before it.
“As a matter of fact, the Governor does not have to lobby from any quarters having won his election landslide and defended same at the tribunal through his competent legal team”; he added.
Ahemba maintained that the collective interest of the people of Nassrawa State must be placed above personal considerations hence, “we urge the PDP and their agents to desist from actions that are capable of jeopardizing the existing peace in the State”.
