Ahead of 2027 general elections, no less than 10,000 eligible voters have reportedly transferred their voting stations to Okene local government area of Kogi state.
Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Concerned Group, Mallam Musa Ishaq, made this known to newsmen in Lokoja on Thursday.
Ishaq said the 10,000 voters were formerly registered to vote in Kogi local government area of the state.
The move, he said, was to enable them to cast ballots for President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, who hails from Okene in Kogi Central senatorial district.
He described the decision as “a mark of honor and appreciation” for former Governor Bello, crediting him with “liberating them from political bondage” and delivering development to their communities.
“Until former Governor Yahaya Bello assumed office, we never truly understood the meaning of democracy,” he said.
“Today, we are not only free, but we marvel at the development we now enjoy under the same democratic system that existed before.”
Mallam Ishaq explained that transferring their votes to Okene is the group’s way of showing gratitude to Bello, who facilitated the rise of current Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo.
“We are also doing this singular gesture for the former Governor for giving Kogites Governor Ododo,” Ishaq said.
“This gesture to move our votes to Kogi Central is in solidarity with the living hero of Kogi State’s democratic experiment, former Governor Yahaya Bello.”
He continued, “We know that without our votes he will win handsomely in 2027, but we want to be fully involved in the future success of the former Governor and to show him that as citizens we are not ungrateful.”
The group extended its thanks to former Governor Bello for what they called “the best gift ever of the new year, in Gov. Ododo” and congratulated Governor Ododo on the auspicious occasion of his birthday.
