By Suleiman Idakwo, Lafia
A group of women have continued to stage a protest in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital over the ongoing state governorship election dispute.
The protesting women expressed their displeasure over the alleged injustice done to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, David Ombugadu.
Recall that the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal had on October 2 nullified the victory of Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress and announced Ombugadu of PDP as the winner.
Not pleased with this court judgement, Sule approached the Court of Appeal where he was declared the winner of the governorship election in the state.
Hanatu John, the leader of the protesting women’s groups, told journalists in Lafia on Tuesday that democracy is about popular votes and questioned why the person with the most votes would not be proclaimed the victor of a state election.
John denounced the state’s degree of insecurity, which she claimed had prevented many inhabitants from returning to their farmlands, and urged the Supreme Court to provide justice in the case in the cause of humanity.
She urged President Bola Tinubu and the international community to intervene and save democracy in the state and the country.
She was quoted as saying: “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.”
Another protester, Margaret Alu, agreed with John, saying they gathered for the protest because they had been unhappy since Governor Sule was declared the victor of the state’s governorship race on March 18 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.
Meanwhile, it was earlier reported how 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.
