A group of concerned Kogites drawn across political parties in Kogi state known as SAVE KOGI NOW INITIATIVE met in Lokoja, the State Capital on the November 11th Governorship election a d the following are the outcomes of the meeting;
1. That President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should as a matter of urgency convey a meeting of stakeholders in Kogi State to consider postponement of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state for security reasons.
2. The group said the unfolding tensed atmosphere in the state does not guarantee a free and fair election, noting that with President Tinubu as the Chairman of ECOWAS fighting against military rule in Africa, he must avert militarization of election in the country to avoid embarrassing the nation’s democracy.
3. That the President must consider party politics as secondary in dealing with the situation in Kogi state which if not well managed, may be a threat to democracy.
4. Looking critically at the budget of the country in the fight against insecurity we must begin to tackle the root causes of this insecurity as it is a known fact that most of the thugs used by politicians are abandon after election and they move to the streets to become bandits and terrorists.
5. The situation in Kogi is so obvious that the incumbent governor is leaving no stone unturned in rigging the election using thugs to unleash mayhem on the people. This must not be allowed to see the light of the day to avoid a repeat of using Helicopter to chase voters as it happened at the 2019 election.
6. This is no more Buhari regime when the presidency is taking for granted by people who feel they are close to him and using his name to perpetuate all sorts of illegalities. We must move forward under President Tinubu by doing things in the right way and in a more civilize and democratic manner. That President Tinubu paid his dues to fight for democracy and this is the time for him to defend it’s survival.
7. In conclusion the group wondered why as a seating governor for Eight years, Bello with all his acclaimed performance is still afraid to face the electorate and ask them to reciprocate by voting for his successor. The only thing he is relying on to win the election is that he is APC and power of incumbency at Federal level will be used to suppress the will of the people.
The imposition of a candidate on APC during the party primary does not only portray him as a dictator but a failure. Also, the group appealed to the president not to join Bello to toy with the lives of innocent citizens of Kogi by allowing the election to hold when security can not be guaranteed.
Signed by Mr Daniel Ayejoto and Ismail Adinoyi
