Kogi Guber: Group raises the alarm over insecurity, Calls for Postponement of Nov 11 polls

A group of concerned citizens of Kogi state across political parties under the aegis of Save Kogi Now Initiative, has pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to commence the process leading to the Postponement of the November, 11th, 2023 election in the State
The group further appealed to the president not to toy with the lives of innocent citizens of Kogi by allowing the election to hold when security can not be guaranteed.
A communiqué issued at the end of the group’s meeting in Lokoja on Thursday urged President Tinubu to convene a meeting of stakeholders in Kogi state as a matter of urgency.

The communiqué signed by Mr Daniel Ayejoto and Ismail Adinoyi 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 giving the nation’s democracy a bad name

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must consider party politics as secondary in dealing with the situation in Kogi state which if not well managed, may pose a serious threat to democracy.

“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.

“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.

“This is no more Buhari regime when the presidency was taken for granted by the people who felt they were close to him and using his name to carry 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 its survival,” the communiqué read in part.

The group wondered why Bello, after almost eight years as a seating governor, is still afraid to face the electorate and ask them to vote 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.”