Ime Akpan
The governor of Kaduna State, Mr Uba Sani, has called on the opposition to bury the political hatchet and join him to take the state to an enviable height.
The governor made the appeal in a television interview yesterday following his victory at the Supreme Court.
Recall that a five-member panel of the court, had in a unanimous decision, held that there was no merit in an appeal that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mr Isah Ashiru, filed to challenge the outcome of the governorship election held in the state on March 18, 2023.
In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the apex court described as “incompetent” the petition the PDP and its candidate filed to challenge Sani’s emergence as winner in the election.
It held that since the originating petition was incompetent, no relief could be granted to the appellants in the matter.
Consequently, the court upheld the earlier judgement of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the case for being devoid of merit.
“The appeal is frivolous, vexatious, and irritating. It therefore deserves to be dismissed, and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Abubakar said.
Reacting to the judgement, Sani who was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) thanked his opponent, Ashiru, who he called “my brother and friend” for embracing the legal process and ventilating his anger by going to the Supreme Court.
“Now that the election has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, I would like to call on Isah Ashiru to join hands with me to move Kaduna State forward.
“That is why I want to invite him and any other citizen of Kaduna State who have something to offer to come, let’s work together in the spirit of democracy.”
“If you remember, he was at the tribunal. After the tribunal, he ran to the Court of Appeal, after the court of appeal now the Supreme Court. For me, what he did was commendable. That is the role of democracy.
“If you are not satisfied, you should approach the judiciary. Of course, that was what he did. Today (yesterday) it is clear that the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed my election. Of course, the judgement was extremely sound,” Sani said
