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Gov Sule alleges religious conspiracy in judgment removing him from office
Gov Sule alleges religious conspiracy in judgment removing him from office
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has raised concerns over religious conspiracy politics following his removal from office by the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
He alleged that two Christian Judges conspired to oust him from office based on religious sentiments. Governor Sule further attributes his removal to the influence of Bishop David Abioye of Living Faith Church Worldwide (also known as Winners Chapel).
The Tribunal, which sat in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State, issued its verdict on Monday, October 2, 2023. It invalidated Governor Sule’s election victory under the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declared David Ombugadu, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the rightful winner of the March 18, 2023 Governorship election in the state.
This decision followed a legal challenge by Ombugadu contesting Sule’s electoral victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
During a virtual announcement of the judgment, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, the tribunal’s chairman, nullified the incumbent governor’s election and officially recognized Ombugadu as the duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State.
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The judgment, spanning approximately two hours and 53 minutes, included the withdrawal of Sule’s Certificate of Return, which was subsequently awarded to Ombugadu.
Governor Sule, speaking in Abuja at the 2023 Peace and Development Summit for Young University Students, expressed his belief that religiously driven politics had been in motion before the elections.
He recalled an incident before the March 18 Governorship election when Bishop David Abioye, First Vice President of Living Faith Church, which oversees the expansive Winners Chapel Church complex in Auta Balefi, Nasarawa State, had urged Christians to vote exclusively for Christian candidates.
Governor Sule contends that Bishop Abioye’s statement played a significant role in his removal by the Tribunal. He accuses the judges of relying on religious sentiments rather than the factual evidence presented in the case.
In the governor’s own words: “A lot of you must have read the Tribunal ruling in our State when two of the Judges, who are Christians, decided that a Christian won the election and one Muslim Judge decided that it is the Muslim who won the election.”
