A frontline socio-political group, Kogi Equity Roundtable (KER), has endorsed the candidacy of Senator Dino Melaye as the best option for the state in the November 11 gubernatorial election based on equity, popularity, experience and exposure of candidates, as well as the strength of political parties involved.
KER, which has spare-headed the call for power rotation in Kogi State since 2014, made the declaration in Idah, Kogi State, on Tuesday morning in a release made available to journalists.
Addressing the media, the Secretary General to the group, Dr. Peter Okoh, who presented a long address on behalf of the Director General of the group, whom he said, was on a special assignment for the group in other parts of the state, said wide consultation have been made across the three senatorial districts of Kogi State, before arriving at the loud decision.
According to the statement, the decision has nothing to do with ethnic bias.
“Our mission is not unconnected with the necessity for equity and fair play, which we believe would be the best approach to mitigating political acrimony, in a bid to ensuring, sustainable peace and harmonious coexistence,” Okoh said.
The group took the media men through memory lane of how it has been in the fore-front of agitation for equitable power rotation since 2014, not allowing either ethnic or party interests to influence its decision despite the fact that, its members belong to different political parties and different ethic groups within the state.
The group lamented the process that led to the emergence of the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, declaring it as the worst decision in the political history of Kogi State, as it demonstrates gross insensitivity on the part of a government that came to power on the divine benevolence of agitations for equity, adding that Governor Bello came second in the 2014 primary of APC, a feat made possible by collective agitation by various groups like Kogi Equity Roundtable and Kogi Decides, Power Shift Assembly, amongst others.
The group pointed out that it was the collective struggle for power shift, that gave Governor Bello the huge vote that made him come second, after Late Abubakar Audu, a criteria which was eventually used by his party and the court, to step down Hon. James Faleke, to make Bello governor at the demise of Audu.
“It is however unfortunately that Governor Bello is making frantic efforts at burning the bridge that brought him to the shore with the plan to install his nephew as successor,” the group posited.
The statement in part below:
“I bring you greetings from the well meaning members of KOGI EQUITY ROUNDTABLE (KER), a socio-political group in Kogi State, with members spread across the three senatorial districts of the state.
“Today we consider it a great necessity to address you on the very important gubernatorial election of our dear state of Kogi, scheduled for November 11, 2023.
“The last time we address the press this way, was in 2014, precisely eight years ago, when we addressed the press twice; once in Lokoja, when we officially founded this group, which we initially named as KOGI EQUITY FRONT. (The group was later renamed KOGI EQUITY ROUNDTABLE based on counsels from well-meaning individual, who were bothered about the security implication of the word FRONT).
“During our first press conference, our mission was to stress to the two major political parties in the state then, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressive Congress, APC, on the need to concede their gubernatorial tickets to aspirants from either Kogi West or Kogi Central, just as we admonished delegates to be on the part of history, by playing their parts ensuring that, power shifts to either Kogi West or Kogi Central.
“After the primaries, the two major parties chose their candidates from Kogi East, forcing us to call on two aspirants from the APC, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello and Engr. Olusola George Olumorti, to come together for us to shop another platform for them as gubernatorial candidate and running mate respectively. They both turned down the offer, insisting on remaining with their party, the APC.
“Despite what appeared as initial failure, we never gave up. We contact both Prince Abubakar Audu and his running mate, Faleke, to extract commitment that would ensure that power shifts to either Kogi West or Central after four years.
“When we got the assurance, we came up with the press conference in Kabba, where we declared Audu/Faleke as our consensus candidates.
“So the Kabba press conference, also in 2014, was the declaration of support for the Late Hero of Kogi Politics, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, and his running mate, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke as consensus candidates.The rest is a continued history that brought us here today. Audu & Faleke won, but by combination of supernatural and extra- constitutional intervention, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello was sworn in, giving us a sense of fulfillment on power shift.
“Gentle men in the fourth estate of the realm, it is important at this juncture, to make it abundantly clear, that our insistence that power should move from Kogi East to either West or Central eight years ago, has nothing to do with ethnic bias. As you can see, members of this group cuts across ethnic brackets. It is also important to note that, we have amongst our members, professors, top professionals like Lawyers, Doctors, Senior men and women in both Federal and State Civil Service, to mention but a few. You will agree with me that these noble men and women you are seeing here today, are beyond parochial sentiments of ethnic coloration.
“As the Secretary General, I am an Igala, my director General, is an Okun man while our Head of Publicity as well as Finance Controller are both from Kogi Central.
“Our mission is not unconnected with the necessity for Equity and fair play, which we believe would be the the best approach to mitigating political acrimony, in a bid to ensuring, sustainable peace and harmonious coexistence of the state.
“Gentle men, I wish also to put on record that, KER between 2015 and 2019 sent several open letters to the governor of Kogi State, and to the State Assembly, on the need to institutionalize rotation of political offices in the state, every eight years, but all our calls fell on deaf ears.
“It should also go into record that, in 2019, despite our individual disapproval of the leadership style of Governor Bello in his first four years, KER deliberately refused to officially work against his second term. We allowed our members to support the candidates of their choices, without calling for power shift.
“At the end of eight years, we had expected Governor Bello, who came into power on the strength of agitation for equity, to allow the natural trend to continue, for power to shift to the west; but rather, he is indirectly engaged in third term drive, by anointing his nephew as flag bearer to his party, the APC.
“To us in KER, such moves by Governor Bello is an abbreviation and as such, we reject governor Bello, his party and their candidate, Ododo. We insist on power rotation to the west believing it will come to be, by the power of the creator of heaven and earth, who sits in heaven and rule in the affairs of men.
“Noble men of the press, there are three candidates from Kogi West. If we must achieve our aim, we have a responsibility to pruning down to one. We have to choose amongst these three candidates from Kogi West:
1) Mr. Buraimo Olayinka of AA,
2) Sen. Dino Melaye of PDP
3) Hon. Leke Abejide of ADC.
“We have therefore decided to using available information, to screen the three of them, using very simple parameters.
1) Popularity of the parties involved.
2) Popularity of the candidates
3) Political Experience of the candidate.
Party Popularity: In accessing this, we consider each party, vis-a-vis the election it has won and the number of political offices currently occupied by members of the party.
State Assembly
AA 0, ADC 1, PDP 2
Governors
AA 0, ADC 0, PDP 13
REPS
AA 0, ADC 2 PDP 102
Senate
AA 0, ADC 0 , PDP. 33
This parameter favours PDP, which is the platform for Sen. Dino Melaye
You will also agree with us that, using popularity of candidates and political experience as a criteria, the candidate of PDP, Sen. Dino Melaye, who has won election into the House of Representatives once and into the Senate twice, has an edge over the rest two candidates.
Besides, Senator Dino is a national figure, who in the past, has held key positions in presidential campaign for his party apart from heading sensitive committees of the national assembly.
Also, PDP in Kogi State today has a formidable structure across the length and breadth of Kogi State.
To this end, without any element of whim, bias or caprice, we in Kogi Equity Roundtable have decided and have adopted the candidate of People’s Democratic Party, Sen. Dino Melaye as consensus candidate for the November 11 gubernatorial election of Kogi State.
We therefore called on the two other candidates from Kogi West, to rally round their brother for the sake of posterity.
We acknowledge the capacity and capabilities of both Hon Abejide and Olayinka. We equally attest to their love for the state and their humanitarian services to the people.
However, in our present circumstance, the greatest thing they can do for this state is to undertake a genuine sacrifices of their personal interest, in the interest of Kogi West and the state as a whole.
Gentlemen of the press, we will admonish you to join us in the struggle for the propagation of equity and fairness in our dear state
Let work together for Dino Melaye, the candidate of People’s Democratic Party. Let us strengthen our internal democracy…..”
