By Fortune Eromosele, ABUJA

Following the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa State that sacked Governor Abdullahi Sule, civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has urged the Governor not to use state funds during his appeal process.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, expressed deep concerns regarding reports suggesting that Governor Sule could be tapping into the State’s financial resources to sustain his ongoing legal efforts aimed at challenging the tribunal’s verdict.

HURIWA acknowledged the Governor’s right to appeal the decision, but issued a warning against the potential misuse of state funds to finance the appeal and urged Governor Sule not to further deplete the State’s finances by funding his appeal.

Instead, the rights group called on him to respect the tribunal’s verdict and uphold the principles of democracy.

HURIWA emphasized that the misuse of public funds for personal political battles is a form of corruption that undermines the principles of good governance and transparency.

“Such actions represent a serious violation of the foundations of democratic governance and ethical conduct, posing a direct threat to Nigeria’s democracy and its essential principles of integrity and accountability” Onwubiko stated.

In response to the concerns by the group, HURIWA called on the ICPC to initiate an immediate and comprehensive investigation into Governor Sule’s financial transactions and the utilization of public resources by his administration, stressing that the objective of the investigation is to determine whether state funds have been diverted to finance the governor’s legal campaign and take appropriate action if any wrongdoing is found.

To this end, HURIWA called for significant electoral reforms to address the issue of litigation arising from elections. The rights group contended that the current practice, where sitting governors are allowed to use state resources to contest election results in court, is detrimental to the democratic process and can potentially lead to financial abuse of state resources.