A youths group, Coalition of PDP Youths, in Nasarawa State, who claimed to be well recognized by the party had in the early hours of Friday, held a press briefing in Lafia, accusing the Judges of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in the state of declaring the party’s candidate, David Ombugadu, as the winner of the March 18, 2023 elections due to religious sentiments.
The Chairman of the group, Comrade Daniel Agbo said, “Most worrisome is that after taking a closer look at the ruling by the tribunal, we realized that merit was compromised for religious sentiment. If not, how on earth will you justify such a shambolic ruling where out of three Judges, the two Christian Judges ruled in favour of their Christian brother and candidate of the PDP, Hon David Emmanuel Ombugadu, while the remaining one Muslim Judge ruled in favour of his Muslim brother and candidate of the APC, Engr Abdullahi Sule? This is unfortunate and condemnable.
“We are also calling on the stakeholders at the Appeal Court, especially the Judges for a proper review of the tribunal judgment, devoid of religious colouration or any other sentiment as witnessed by the lower court and set aside its judgment.”
Meanwhile, reacting to the development in a statement made available to Journalists in Lafia on Friday, the PDP Youths Leader in the state, Muhammed Sani, denied knowing the group or its mode of operation.
He, therefore, urged residents of the state to disregard the group in its entirety, adding that the PDP will not be distracted by the antics of people who do not mean well for the party or its governorship candidate.
“We want to make it clear that the PDP in Nasarawa State fully supports the tribunal’s verdict that resulted in the removal of Governor Abdullahi Sule. The facts and merits of the case, as ruled by the tribunal, are indisputable, and we maintain our unwavering confidence in the integrity of the tribunal’s decision. The PDP would never condemn itself or seek to detract from a ruling that upholds justice and the rule of law.
“It has come to our attention that the current administration in Nasarawa State has been involved in sponsoring groups that are not affiliated with the PDP. It is the shameful religious statement of the state governor, Abdullahi Sule at the recent Summit held in Abuja that is dividing the people along religious lines and not from the PDP; and that is why they are sponsoring these boys to further disseminate their claims.
“We urge the people of Nasarawa State to reject the claims made by the Coalition of PDP Youths, as they are baseless and without merit. The PDP categorically denies any involvement in the said press conference, and we reaffirm our commitment to respecting the tribunal’s ruling and standing firmly behind the merits of the case,” Sani added.
As of the time of filing this report, efforts made to get the reaction of the state’s APC Publicity Secretary, Douglas Otaru, proved abortive as his phone line was not connecting.
