The protesting women in Nasarawa State who had been peacefully demonstrating against the Appeal Court’s affirmation of Governor Abdullahi Sule as the winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state, have declared that they are indigenes of the state, and not foreigners as alleged by the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC).
APC had accused the women of being hired from neighboring states by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to constitute nuisance in the guise of protesting against the declaration of Gov. Sule and the his affirmation by the Appeal Court.
Reacting to the allegation on Saturday in Lafia, one of the leaders of the women groups, Auta Cletus, said they were protesting the wrong declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and injustice by the Court.
She added that they would continue the protest to tell the world what is happening no matter the blackmail and intimidation by the government and APC.
“I am a widow, my husband died many years ago. I was born and brought up in Takpa-Uzi community in Lafia Local Government Area of the state.
“We are here today because our son, David Ombugadu who we voted for at the March 18 governorship election was denied his victory by desperate politicians in this state.
“As you can see, there are many widows here who are praying for him to succeed because he is the one we voted for during the last governorship election.
“I have children who are educated, but they have no jobs because the present administration did not make jobs available for the people.
“I am shocked that the APC people could make such a statement that we are hired from other states.
“That assumption is incorrect because we are all indigenes of Nasarawa State advocating for the advancement of our dear state,” she added.
She lamented that the Appeal Court’s judgment fell short of the expectations of the people and called on the Supreme Court to carefully review the BVAS records of Gayam and Ciroma Electoral Wards of Lafia before passing its judgment.
“The total number of accredited voters in Gayam ward was about 13,000, but INEC allocated 33,000 votes to just the APC alone.
“Secondly, in Ciroma ward of the same Lafia LGA, the number of accredited voters was 21,000, but INEC announced 59,000 votes solely for the APC,” she said.
Also, Helen Beture said it was demeaning for the APC in the state to accuse them of being hired from other states to come over to Nasarawa for protest.
She said, “It is sad that the APC and supporters of the current administration could say such a thing to us.
“They should be aware that we are indigenes of the state. Most of us were born here in this state and we attended our schools here, so it is not good for anyone to just come up and say something untrue as that.
“The reason why we are here is because we want justice and Supreme Court should pass judgment based on facts and not technicalities. (NAN).