Professor Steven Torkuma Ugbah, governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Benue state for the April general elections. He spoke recently with a select group of journalists in Makurdi. SOLOMON AYADO was there for LEADERSHIP.?
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The Supreme Court has directed re-trial of your case at the Tribunal, how do you feel about this?
On my victory at the Supreme Court I want to first thank God for taking us far against all odds but as I kept saying throughout our campaign, we remained very confident in the judiciary, we have faith in the judiciary and I would like to re-affirm that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Benue is made up of men and women of integrity. What the Supreme Court has done is to restore that confidence we have in the judiciary. The judiciary is the last hope of a common person like me who does not have the resources to compromise the integrity of the judiciary. We sought justice and so far, we receive justice from the hands of the Supreme Court and I am very happy about that.
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Shortly after your victory at the Supreme Court, the Benue State Governor, Hon Gabriel Suswam said nothing will prevent him from completing his second term and that 180 days provided for the tribunal has elapsed that your victory will amount to nothing. What is your comment or what are your counsels saying about this??
I will not hold brief for Gabriel Suswam. I can only say things that relate to me and my campaign and the impact of the Supreme Court ruling. Yes my lawyers have briefed me and what Gabriel Suswam said was plain propaganda, designed to energies his own base. I cannot fault him for trying to energies his own base. I don’t want to dwell too much on what he said. What I know as a fact is that the Supreme Court has restored our petition at the tribunal and what we are doing is getting ready to continue proving that Gabriel Suswam and PDP did not win the gubernatorial election in Benue, but ACN and Professor Steve Ugbah and young Alhaji won the gubernatorial election in Benue State. We are not after anyone talking about expiration of time or anything of that matter. We are interested in getting our day in court and proving that we won the election fair and square that’s what we are going to prove and nothing else.
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I am not concerned about senseless propaganda; I am focused on going to the Supreme Court to prove that we were right in law and we have done that. The Supreme Court has affirmed our stand, now the apex court says come back and we will go before the tribunal and argue our case. So I am not concerned about the different interpretations of the Supreme Court’s rulings. One thing is certain; the Supreme Court has restored our case at the tribunal period.
So we are waiting for the President of the Court of Appeal to tell us when to come back and start our case here. When that happens, we are ready to prove that the ACN won the governorship election in Benue that’s what we are after, we want justice
There are rumours that you contested against Suswam because of a long standing fight between your forefathers. Is that true?
If I should give credence to that question, then Suswan must also share the same genealogy with Prof. Saor’s, his parents must have also fought in ancient times. I am sure that kaki’s parents also fought Suswan’s parents for him to have contested against Suswam. You see people want to make a story out of nothing. I was contesting election because Benue state needed to be rescued. I came to contest in the election because I wanted the future of my children secured. I came to contest elections because I saw fantastic opportunities in Benue that were blowing past four years and there was no hope, that the next four years things will be better. You are just telling me now whether or not my grandparents fought so by extension we are also fighting.
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I have no knowledge of that; I have nothing personal against Suswam. I have everything against the way that he has governed the state; I have everything against the paths this state is now taking and I believe that we can do better. I may not be the one to have all the solutions for this problem, but I know that we can do better, than what we have experienced in the past 4 years and God forbids Gabriel stays for the next 4 years. I can’t imagine what this state will be like. So I am here not to fight wars that my parents or grandparents started which I know nothing about.
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