Some women in Nasarawa State again staged a protest in Lafia, the state capital, on Tuesday over what they described as the alleged injustice done to the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, David Ombugadu.
The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal had on October 2 sacked Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress and announced Ombugadu winner.
Unsatisfied by the judgment, Sule approached the Court of Appeal where he was declared the winner of the governorship election in the state.
Speaking with journalists in Lafia on Tuesday, the leader of the protesting women groups, Hanatu John, said democracy was about popular votes and wondered why a person with the highest votes would not be declared the winner of an election in the state.
John decried the level of insecurity in the state, which she said had stopped many residents from going to their farmlands, and called on the Supreme Court to deliver justice in the case in the interest of humanity.
She appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the international community to intervene in the matter to save democracy in the state and, by extension, the entire country.
She said, “We started this week’s protest on Monday, December 25, because celebrating Christmas seems void when our mandate was stolen from us.
“We have been here since March protesting what we described as electoral injustice. During the governorship election, we voted for Ombugadu not Sule. But we are hoping that the right thing will be done at the Supreme Court.
“We are therefore, urging the judges to critically look into the governorship election results from Nasarawa State so that our mandate will be restored.”
Corroborating John, another protester, Margaret Alu, said they gathered for the protest because they had not been happy since Governor Sule was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“We are in anguish. We left our husbands and children behind because celebrating Christmas when we are not happy is not proper. Some of us are widows, while others are jobless because our farmlands have been taken by the herdsmen.
“All we seek is justice, and until our mandate is returned, we will not relent in our daily peaceful demonstrations,” she said.
It was reported that the women who dressed in black attires wielded placards with several inscriptions, such as “Count Every Vote: Protect Democracy in Nasarawa State” “Bring back our mandate: Our votes are our Rights;” and “Our farms are not safe, our husbands are killed, widows are raped,” among others.
