The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Board of Trustees, Sen Walid Jibrin has asked Nasarawa governor Abdullahi Sule not to blame his loss at the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal’s on religion.
He said the recent verdict against governor Abdullahi Sule, marks a resounding victory for truth and democracy in the state.
Jibrin who is also the Sarkin Fulani of Nasarawa disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday.
He also expressed hope that in the event of an appeal against the Tribunal verdict, the outcome would still be in favour of the people of Nasarawa.
He said, “I am a devout Muslim and an elder of over 70 years. I am shocked by Sule’s attempt to blame his defeat on religion rather than the overwhelming facts before God and all Nigerians which show clearly that he didn’t win the last governorship election in Nasarawa.”
Jibrin, however, expressed his disappointment that Governor Sule, in the wake of the tribunal verdict, declined to accept the decision and chose to invoke religion as an excuse for not stepping down from office.
Recall that Gov Sule while speaking at a peace summit in Abuja said: “A lot of you must have read the tribunal ruling in our state when two of the judges, who are Christians, decided that a Christian won the election and one Muslim judge decided that it is the Muslim who won the election.”
Maintaining that Sule’s victory in the election was marred by irregularities, Jibrin warned against using religion as a tool to incite tension in the state.
Jibrin said Nigerians should be wary of the politics of religion as it is capable of destroying the country.
“If we are not careful with the politics of religion, the whole country will be destroyed,” he said.
Jibrin said the sad attempt to divide the judiciary on religious lines will destroy the only institution that remains the last hope of the common man.
He stressed that Ombugadu, the PDP’s governorship candidate in the state, who has been officially declared as the winner of the election by the tribunal, would foster development in the state and bridge religious differences.
He said: “In the governorship election governor Sule suffered crippling defeat as voters overwhelmingly rejected him and voted massively for the PDP governorship candidate Ombugadu.”