Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, Thursday in Abuja, lauded the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal judgement which affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, and appealed to aggrieved opposition parties not to appeal it.
Fielding questions from newsmen after he emerged from the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Governor Bello asked the aggrieved opposition parties to, rather, deploy the resources meant for appeal to other purposes for the benefit of their people.
His words: “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think there is any ground for appeal. I would rather appeal to them that they should drop any appeal going to the higher court and then save the resources, save the trouble, advise their supporters, and admonish them that they should accept yesterday’s judgement. No flaw.”
The governor equally appealed to the opposition to join hands to support the efforts by President Bola Tinubu-led administration towards ameliorating the hardship being faced by the citizens.
He said: “I advise all those that feel aggrieved, we have only one country, Nigeria they should all come together and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and ensure that we fix this country. Whatever hardship we are facing today is the effects of the past.
“Definitely we have Mr Fix It who is trying his best to travel around the world to ensure that Nigeria is fixed. So we are happy the matter is settled.”
The elated Governor further stated that: “Nothing is as successful as success. We are happy; Nigerians are happy and the truth is out there. We appreciate all that happened yesterday (Wednesday). The truth has been exposed.
“Imagine the justices sitting down for almost fourteen hours to deliver that landmark judgement yesterday. Nigerians within the country and in the diaspora are happy and I think it’s time to settle down and face governance.
On the outcome of the Kogi state tribunal decision which nullified the election of two All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators, and gave victory to the opposition PDP candidates, Governor Bello sued for calm and declared that the APC would eventually reclaim the seats.
“But I want to assure you that even judging from the pronouncements yesterday at the Appeal Court, we are going to have our 3/3 Senate in Kogi state, I can assure you,” the governor said without being categorical.
“This is democracy. and they have the right to appeal. I think they will take the appropriate steps to ensure that no violence is orchestrated anywhere. We will follow the due process of the law and whatever will be the outcome at the end of the day, we abide by it,” he added.
The Kogi State Election Tribunal had declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the 25 February Senatorial election in the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
The three-member panel of judges, led by K. A. Orjiako, at the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal unanimously declared her winner of the election after nullifying the victory of the All Progress Congress (APC) candidate, Abubakar Sadiku-Ohere.
The National Assembly election petition tribunal sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, also sacked the Chairman, of the Senate Committee on Customs Excise and Tariffs, Jibrin Isah (APC, Kogi East), on the ground that elections were cancelled in 94 polling units.
Consequently, it ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election in the 94 polling units.
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