The Kogi State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye, and his Social Democratic Party (SDP) opponent, Yakubu Ajaka, have received warnings from the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding their potential to incite violence in the state through their words and deeds.
Remember that there were violent incidents in the state both before and after the election that saw Ahmed Usman Ododo of the APC emerge victorious?
Felix Morka, the APC’s national publicity secretary, asserted to reporters on Thursday in Abuja that Melaye and Ajaka had been using blackmail to coerce the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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The ruling party asked the police command to look into the alleged assault on Dr. Gabriel Hale Longpet, the resident electoral commissioner (REC), and the secretary to the election tribunal.
The APC said, “Despite substantial compliance with electoral laws and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the conduct of the elections, the post-election situation in Kogi has been bedeviled by contrived controversies and orchestrated violence that now threaten the peace and security of the good state of Kogi.
“The opposition parties that contested that election, particularly the SDP and the PDP are severely conflicted between accepting or challenging the result of the election. Rather than carry out comprehensive evaluation of the reasons they were rejected at the polls, these parties have continued to peddle falsehood and promote ethnic and social unrest in the state.
“We condemn, as dangerous, the incendiary rhetoric of opposition figures in Kogi State who continue to inflame passion and incite strife. Their actions and utterances provide a charged atmosphere for escalation of violence in the state.
“We especially condemn the reported attack against the Secretary of the Election Tribunal, Mike Umar David, on Monday, December 4, 2023, in very spurious circumstances. The SDP clearly has a lot of explaining to do regarding this incident. Their utterances and actions, prior to, and since, that incident, betray suspicious special knowledge of the incident.”
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