posted November 2, 2023
.. Melaye dazed by PDP emptiness – Fanwo
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 11 Kogi governorship election, Senator Dino Melaye has alleged that there are plans to use thugs to unleash violence against the people of the state, in an attempt to weaken their resolve.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Melaye said fake police and army uniforms have been given to the thugs so they could not easily be detected by residents.
The governorship candidate said based on intelligence available his campaign council, the thugs would be brought in from Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states
He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Alhaji Usman Ododo, have been rejected by the people ahead of the November 11 election in the state.
“Intelligence available to our campaign is to the effect that the APC have sewn fake Police Uniforms (camouflage) which have already been brought into Kogi State and ready to be distributed among APC thugs to parade as police men and unleash terror on innocent Kogites on election day.
“Further intelligence exposed that the thugs are allegedly being imported from Kwara, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States under the official cover by the Yahaya Bello administration to unleash mayhem and disrupt peaceful conduct of the election, having realized that there is no way the APC can win in a peaceful, free, fair and credible electoral process.
“We have been made aware that the thugs from Kwara State will be led by Mutiu (Oc SARS). This gang was responsible for the mayhem that occurred in Aiyetoro-Gbedde where my nephew was killed.
“It is important for Mutiu (Oc SARS) to know that I knew the hotel he stayed during the last election. I dared him to come with his gang for this November 11 governorship election. Surely, he will meet his Waterloo as the people of Kogi State are now, more than ever before, out to resist and vanquish him.
“We want Governor Yahaya Bello to know that we are already aware that he is bringing another set of thugs and hoodlums from Ijebu, Ogun State, to be led by one Alfa Nojeem Agbebi. Nojeem Agbebi should also know that the people of Kogi State are already waiting for him and this time around, he will surely be taught the lessons of thuggery and I pray he lives to remember the experience.
“We are already aware that hired thugs have also been invited from Lagos and Shaki, Oyo State. We have intelligence of how the hoodlums from Lagos met a top member of the Yahaya Bello government and was paid N2 million for transportation. We advised them not to return back to Kogi State,” he said.
Melaye added that additional information available to him indicated that the Governor Bello has “commenced a nebulous action of planting hoodlums in communities with the intention of using them to disrupt electoral activities in Kogi state.”
“For instance, we are aware that in Ogidi, Ijumu-Oke District, Ijumu local government, one Kamal, a very dangerous thug of the APC, visited the Ogidi community pretending to be searching for accommodation for purported “INEC staff”, who are in the real sense, Yahaya Bello’s thugs. We wonder how an APC thug would be the one searching for accommodation for INEC Staff who will arrive in the community and live among the people one week ahead of the governorship election.
“The determined people of the Ogidi community are already on the alert awaiting the arrival of these Bello thugs who are hiding under the cover of being INEC staff.
“More alarming is the leaked plots by the APC who has targeted a number of innocent Kogites in Kogi Central Senatorial District for assassination. Such persons include; Fortune Omuya, Jacob Anebe, Nuhu Ododo AKA Ozivava and Kadiri Yakubu AKA Nagaziman.”
Melaye called on security agencies to take immediate note of these issues and arrest the situation.
“We want Nigerians to hold Yahaya Bello and APC leaders responsible for any killing, sudden disappearance of persons and election violence in the November 11, 2023 governorship election.
“We demand a free and fair election where the vote of every Kogites will count. The tide is clearly in our favour as the people are solidly behind us. We counsel and caution Yahaya Bello and the APC to accept the fact of their rejection and their colossal defeat on November 11.”
Reacting to the allegations, the spokesperson for the APC campaign council, Kingsley Fanwo described Melaye as a man dazed by his party emptiness, stressing that the state government has tackled insecurity in the state and cannot be taken aback.
“Today’s allegations by the candidate of the empty People’s Democratic Party in the forthcoming Governorship Election in Kogi State, Dino Melaye to the effect that the Governor and the All Progressives Congress are shopping for thugs to disrupt the Governorship Poll is an archaic warfare strategy of accusing the opponents of your plans. It doesn’t hold waters in modern day politicking that is built on mobilization, conviction, strategies and aligning with the power of the people.
“As incongruent as the allegations are, it is important to state unequivocally here that as a party, we will deploy all legal, constitutional and administrative means to protect our victory that is certain owing to the massive acceptance of our candidate by the Kogi people. We are in the contest to win, free and fair . Some are in the contest to take donations to service their prodigal and irresponsible lifestyle while some are out to negotiate for the future.
“Dino Melaye whose ‘ticket’ set fire on the PDP, leading to the detection of key leaders and officials of the party at all levels, knows that he stands no chance in the forthcoming election, hence, his usual drama of raising false alarms and claims that do not exist. The game is over for him.
“We challenge the abandoned PDP Governorship Candidate to submit his claims to security agencies and be ready to defend them. With two Senators, six House of Reps members, twenty two House of Assembly Members, twenty one Council Chairmen and all the Ward Councillors in the state, APC has all the required political structure to win a free and fair Governorship Poll. Our Governor has done so well that the people will endorse his party as they have always done since 2015.
“Our Governor is known across Nigeria for his stance on Security and how effective his security architecture has been. Anyone planning mayhem on November 11 will meet his waterloo as an attack on the Governorship Poll will be met with stiff resistance from the forces of law and security.
“We urge Kogites to be unperturbed by their fear mongering attitude and come our enmasse to pass a vote of confidence on the All Progressives Congress that has changed the face of the state for good. It won’t be about noisemaking at the end of the day. It is about what we have done for the people as the party in power and the quality of our candidate who is a successful Accountant, Auditor, Public Officer and a good family man.”