2023: I Have No Choice But To Accept The People’s Call – Governor Sule
By Eric M Kuju
Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule has said that the people of Nasarawa State have left him with no choice but to accept their call for him to run for a second term in office as Governor of Nasarawa State.
Speaking today (Tuesday May 3, 2022) at the Lafia City Square where he was officially presented expression of interest and nomination forms purchased for him by an amalgamation of AA Sule support groups, the Governor said it is impossible to say no to such a gesture.
He said: “I am sure it is well known that Engineer A A Sule has the capacity to purchase this form for himself even if they said it is N500 million. But even if it was just N10 million and then these servants of God such as these, bringing together their N10,000, N2,000, N20,000 or N1 million, to buy the form, it becomes much more valuable to me than the one I can buy for myself whatever the cost. Because of that, I want to express my gratitude to them for taking the pains to spend their resources for this purpose. I am yet to even know the individuals who contributed the money.
“My initial intention was to gather the people in a situation such as this to declare my intention before I will ask you all to accompany me to Abuja to purchase the form. But now they have gone ahead of me to buy the form. And as it is, I have no choice but to accept the form because people have sacrificed their sweat to buy it.
“With this in mind, I have nothing else to say but to state here today being the 3rd day of May 2022, that I Alhaji Abdullahi, son of Alhaji Sule Sarkin Gudi, that by God’s grace I will contest once again come 2023.”
Earlier in a goodwill message, Nasarawa State Deputy Governor, Dr Emmanuel Akabe disclosed that a group of individuals and organizations had approached him while the Governor was away at Saudi Arabia to inform him of their decision to obtain the forms on behalf of the Governor.
According to him, this was to show that although the Governor had not made a pronouncement concerning running for a second term in office, the people were showing that they loved his leadership style and wanted him in office beyond 2023.
He said: “The majority of the people are happy with you and have come together to say whether you like it or not, they want you to continue beyond 2023. It is not an option for you to say you want or you don’t want. They said whether you want it or not, they want and you must and you should.”
On his part the Nasarawa State Chairman of APC, Dr John Mamman said the achievements of Governor Sule in sectors such as education, agriculture and investment have all made him deserving of a second term in office.
While calling on the Governor to accept the forms and declare his intention to contest come 2023, the APC Chairman assured the Governor of the party’s total support.
Presenting the forms earlier, Hon. Murtala Abubakar, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), who stood on behalf of the Engineer A A Sule Amalgamated Support Groups, said members of the group recognised the need to contribute in their small ways to enable to Governor consolidate on his vision for the State beyond 2023.
Stakeholders from across the three senatorial zones of the State namely Senator John Danboyi of Nasarawa North, Hon. David Ayewa for Nasarawa South and Hon Baba Shehu, the Keffi Local Government Chairman for Nasarawa West, all threw their support behind the second term aspirations of the Governor.
