If election is done 10 times, I will win 10 times, says Taraba gov as case goes on appeal

Darius Ishaku, the governor of Taraba state, says if election is conducted 10 times in his state, he would win 10 times.

The election petitions tribunal had declared his candidature in the April 2015 governorship poll as illegal, saying the PDP did not conduct the primary in line with the 2010 electoral act.

The tribunal then declared APC’s candidate, Aisha Alhassan, as the winner of the election.

He was speaking to the media after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa on Friday to discuss the security situation in the state following the verdict.

Ishaku said: “The important thing for us as leaders is that our first duty is to protect lives and properties. I am quite sensitive to any unrest and I have told my people to be patient, peaceful law-abiding and allow the judiciary to do its work.

“I have gone to election two times and the second was a bit more than the first and I am on the third election now. I am so confident if I contest 10 times I will win.

“By the grace of God, the people have given me their mandate and I know the God I believe in will keep that mandate for the people.

“God who has brought me this far will sustain me. The mandate of the people is given to us by God and God will sustain it.”

While saying normalcy has returned to the state, Ishaku said he told Buhari that his administration was doing its best to keep the state peaceful.

He said since he had appealed against the election tribunal judgment, he has been appealing to all citizens to be calm because he still has confidence in the judiciary.

Ishaku said he was confident that the court of appeal would do the correct and right thing in this circumstance.