The Director-General, Media and Publicity to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, has declared that the factors that helped Dino in 2015 are the same factors that will drown him in 2019.
In an exclusive interview with Kogireports.com, the Mopamuro-born politician took PDP leaders in the state to the cleaners.
With less than two months to 2019 general elections, How prepared is Kogi APC?
We are very much prepared. Our campaign organization under the Directorship of Hon. Edward Onoja is blazing the trail. We are connected to our people and we are sure of victory in the general elections.
In your local government, Mopamuro, do you think APC stand a chance against political warlords like Asiwaju Clarence Olafemi, Hon. Shola Ojo and Arc. Yomi Awoniyi?
We love and respect Chief Clarence Olafemi. He lost his Ward in 2015 when he was still with us in APC. We weren’t shocked because we know the youth of Ward 1 and Ward 2 in Mopa had rejected his leadership. Barrister Shola Ojo also lost. Even when the Local Government election was organized by a government formed by his party, he lost his Ward. These people are living on past glories. See what the Commissioner for Women Affairs is doing in that Ward. Check out how many people she has empowered. That is called purposeful leadership. PDP will be humiliated in the 2019 general elections in Mopamuro. We know they are planning to use thuggery. We already have the people on our side.
Your senatorial candidate for Kogi West lost 2015 election to same opponent he is pitched against in 2019. Can he turn the tides this time around?
He lost to rigging. His current opponent started rigging from the 2015 APC party primaries. Materials were hijacked and results written during the primaries. Sen. Smart Adeyemi was the better choice but the Buhari Tsunami helped the Ajekuniya Crooner. 2019 is here and we will prove we have a better candidate. The factors that helped Dino in the general election are the same factors that will drown him this time around. Sen. Smart Adeyemi will restore the glory of Kogi West by the grace of God.
Your party is touting experience and ranking status in Kogi West but fielding new comers in Kogi East and Central. How do you reconcile this?
We have two different scenarios. Those who had gone to the National Assembly before didn’t come out to vie for our party tickets in the Central and East. But Sen. Smart Adeyemi came out in the West. Having a third-term Senator will give us a great advantage for important positions in the Senate. Our candidates in the East and Central too are people of impeccable character and brilliance who will do us proud in the Senate.
Kogi APC campaign leaders are largely youths while PDP parades much older politicians. Do you see this as a disadvantage for your party?
Parading vibrant, pragmatic and dynamic youth against rejected elders was the best decision of our party. We can move around. We can connect to the grassroots. We are solving the problems created by those elders in the PDP. The people know the truth and will follow our ideas on good governance. Alh. Ibrahim Idris was Governor for 9 years and he didn’t give electricity to his community. The young people in Government have changed the narrative. We are poised and ready to defeat them at all levels.
PDP’s campaign against APC harps much on hunger occasioned by non-payment of salaries. Is your party truly guilty of these allegations?
We are doing our best to correct the problems they created. They left with three months allocation without paying a dime to the civil servants. They were using our resources to pay salaries to workers in businesses owned by their leaders. They loaded the payrolls with names of their relations who are abroad. They are the real enemies of the people of Kogi State and the people won’t allow them to come back. We have created wealth through agriculture and empowerment programs. The PDP leaders talking of hunger know what they are saying. They are simply protesting the way GYB stopped them from stealing what belongs to the people of Kogi State.
Why should Kogites trust APC with their votes?
Because APC has done what PDP failed to do. APC has done more to lift the poor from perilous ground. APC has done more to fight corruption and terror. APC has grown our economy to depend on productivity. PDP failed to do all these. The N-Power beneficiaries and other beneficiaries of the Buhari SIP will respond to them in February and March. PDP has no chance at all in 2019.
