The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has said those who voted against him in Saturday’s governorship election in the state will not be punished because his victory at the poll was made possible with the help of God.
Speaking at the Government House, Lafia, on Monday after he was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission Returning Officer, Prof. Ishaya Tanko, the governor said he was more concerned about the peaceful coexistence among residents of the state than the outcome of the election.
He expressed gratitude to the electorate for having confidence in him to pilot the affairs of the state for another four years, pledging that his administration would continue to provide the dividends of democracy and work assiduously towards taking the state to greater heights.
Sule said, “All those who voted for me and those who voted against me all belong to me. The best kind of forgiveness that the Almighty God wants is when you forgive someone even when you have the capacity to retaliate.
“We thank God that the election has come and gone peacefully. All the stories about the kind of problem that will happen, the type of insecurity that will occur had me more concerned than the election because I did not want my ambition to cause any fatalities or to end the life of any citizen of Nasarawa State.
“I want to sincerely thank the electorate for supporting me; but in the process of celebrating this victory, let us do it with God in our minds, knowing that the victory came from the Almighty God.”
While commending INEC and security agencies in the state for carrying out their duties in a professional manner, the governor urged his contenders who lost the election to try again during the 2027 governorship election after the end of his second-term in office.
The PUNCH reports that Sule, who was first elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in 2019, secured 347,209 votes to beat closest challenger, David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 283,016 votes, while Abdullahi Maidoya of the New Nigeria Peoples Party scored 11,726 votes.