 |
| Nasarawa Women Protest |
This is a fallout of the declaration of the incumbent Governor Sule by Professor Ishaya Tanko of University of Jos as elected and returned. The women insist that the declaration was not a reflection of actual polls as Nasarawa people massively voted for David Ombugadu of the PDP.
Recall that gubernatorial and states Houses of Assembly elections held on 18th March, 2023 across Nigeria inclusive of Nasarawa state. As the results were coming in, it was clear that the PDP candidate was winning. Out of initial 11 LGAs results declared, PDP won more votes & LGA
When it remained the collation of Awe and Lafia LGAs, looking at results already uploaded into #IReV portal, it became clear that @OfficialAPCNg candidate @engraasule1 has lost while the @OfficialPDPNig candidate @davidombugadu23 won the election. The collation was delayed. Officials of @inecnigeria in connivance with security agencies & the ruling @OfficialAPCNg began to inflate & allocate huge votes to Governor Sule while at the same time reducing the legitimate votes of the PDP candidate Ombugadu. The PDP returning agent protested but was ignored
When Professor Tanko Ishaya announced the results later, it became clear that the figures announced were at variance with uploads on the #IReV portal. Lafia for instance had total accredited voters of about 66,000. But gubernatorial results for Lafia had over 107,000 votes.
A similar situation was observed in respect of Awe LGA where votes returned were more than total of accreditation. These declarations were made after alterations of the result sheets by #INEC officials outside the collation centres & specifically at Govt House & FULafia.
People recalled that before the election, several videos went viral inciting the people along religious and ethnic lines. One renowned traditional ruler even boastfully said in one of the videos the if anybody wins the election and the winner is not in APC, the person has lost.
The Governor himself was sitting beside the said monarch and was clapping and cheering to this. Evaluating that the dismal performance of the incumbent, it was clearly communicated through the polls that people want change and preferred the PDP candidate #DavidOmbugadu.
The support for Ombugadu cuts across both tribal and religious boundaries. Nasarawa people united across the zones to vote for #Ombugadu. Even @NgLabour in Nasarawa and the #ObidientMovement in Nasarawa state endorsed Ombugadu as their candidate for the 2023 elections.
The declaration by @inecnigeria of @engraasule1instead of @davidombugadu23 is what is being resisted through these protests. By going naked, the elderly ones among them are saying that they're ready to die for this cause as they lay curses on whoever had a hand in this fraud.
All that the women want is justice. They want @inecnigeria to review and reverse the declaration made by the V.C. of UniJos & for @davidombugadu23 to be returned as elected by majority of lawful votes casted. According to them, they're not backing down until victory is achieved Still towards this end, the @OfficialPDPNig Legal Team has already tabled a formal request to @inecnigeria for review of the declaration by the Returning Officer for the state, Professor Ishaya Tanko.
Thank you.